Chapter Seven: Halloween Night

The weeks sped by. Al, SS, and Hope became closer and Rose continued to watch. Despite what Hope had told her, she never told the boys about their red haired shadow. Rose continued to research jinxes late into the night, trying to find out who or what had caused Al's broom to buck him off. Hope did as well. One night, ten minutes before curfew, Rose approached Hope.

"What are you doing?" she asked her before she left.

"I'm trying to find out what happened to Al's broom and who jinxed it," Hope told her, not looking up from her thick book. Rose nodded and turned to go, but she hesitated.

"I am as well. Perhaps we could work together?" she suggested. "My common room is filled with books. I've been looking in them after curfew. I could bring you some." Hope looked up, a suspicious gleam in her eye.

"Why do you suddenly want to work together?"

"We're both working towards the same goal. We're both smart and I-" Rose hesitated, not sure if she wanted to share her final reason. "I feel like it's what's right. I feel like we should." Hope nodded, understanding. She felt the same way.

"Will you be in here at the same time tomorrow?" Hope asked. Rose nodded. Then they both left, not saying anything else.

The boys were both oblivious to what the girls were up to. They spent their time talking about Quidditch and playing pranks on Al's many cousins. Or at least SS did. Al watched and ran when they tried to retaliate. Both boys became great friends, much to everyone's amazement. Even their Fathers were shocked. Al and SS got similar letters when they wrote home one week.

Dear Al,

I cannot deny my surprise at your friendship with SS and Hope, but I am very pleased that you did not let my own petty grudges get in your way. You are very much like your grandfather. I think he would be proud. Also, I would like to congratulate you on being sorted into Hufflepuff. It is nice to change it up in the family. Teddy was very proud when we told him. Excited to see you on Christmas break. Please write soon. I love you.

Dad

SS's letter was a little less kind.

Dear SS,

I cannot deny my surprise. A Gryffindor. Perhaps you were adopted?

Your friend Hope sounds very nice. Perhaps you should invite her to our house for the summer. We are hopefully attending the Quidditch World Cup.

I am surprised that with our family history that you have found the ability to tolerate Albus Potter. How you manage it is beyond me. But it is interesting that he is a Hufflepuff. Perhaps that changes it.

Stay strong. Your Mother sends her best wishes. See you at Christmas.

Sincerely,

Father

Al found Draco's surprise and description of him amusing. They all shared a good laugh before classes one morning.

As October drew to a close the castle received a Halloween makeover. Giant pumpkins filled the great hall with scary faces carved into them. Live bats fluttered throughout the halls and orange and black banners hung from the ceiling. It was very creepy.

The Halloween feast was delicious. Pumpkin themed dishes covered the four house tables. As the students ate, skeletons danced around to spooky tunes played by Professor Blackwood on a baby grand piano that had been rolled in front of the staff table. Hope smiled and hummed along as she slurped pumpkin soup. Suddenly she felt a tap on her arm. Drexel Barks, Slytherin Head Boy, was looking at her.

"Hope, I need you for a minute. Follow me," he told her and stood. Luckily they were sitting near the back of the Hall so no one noticed.

"Why?" Hope asked him.

"Because I need your help. This is very important. You're the only one I've asked because you are the one I need," Drexel insisted, grabbing her arm and pulling her out of the Great Hall.

They hurried past empty classrooms. They began to ascend a set of stairs that twisted and branched off. Soon Hope was hopelessly lost. She would never find her way back to the Great Hall. Hope's suspicions were growing at an alarming rate.

"Where are we going?" Hope asked.

"Somewhere," Drexel replied.

"Why can't you tell me?" Hope insisted.

"Because I can't!" Drexel shouted. He made another turn and then he noticed that Hope had stopped following. "Hope. This is very important. You have to follow me!"

"No. Not until you tell me where we are going." Hope stood her ground. She was not going to walk another step. "What do you need me for?" Drexel looked at her for a moment.

"I need you to die. We need your blood. But I suppose we can use one of the others'," Drexel hissed. His voice had turned raspy and cold. His eyes were milky white. Drexel raised his black wand. Hope began to draw her wand, but before she could Drexel cried, "CRUCIO!"

Hope fell to the ground screaming and sobbing. It was pain beyond pain. Fire raced through her veins. She prayed it would end. Hope screamed until her lungs felt deflated and it hurt to yell but she couldn't stop. Hot tears fell onto the floor as she twitched around. She vaguely heard people shouting but she couldn't make sense of it. She couldn't make sense of anything. All she knew was pain. And then suddenly, thankfully, the pain left her. Hope was too exhausted to move. Drexel began another spell.

"AVADA-"

"PERTRIFICUS TOTALUS!" another voice yelled. Red light filled the stair case. Hope opened her eyes and saw SS and Al bending over her.

"Are you okay?" Al asked. SS helped her up. They both looked terrified.

"What…What happened?" Hope gasped. It hurt to talk. It hurt to move. Everything hurt.

"Barks led you out of the Great Hall. I noticed and Al and I followed. We fell behind when we noticed that we were being followed. But then we heard you and followed your screams," SS explained.

"Are you okay? What curse did he use?" Al asked intently.

"Who was following you?" Hope asked, ignoring Al and looking at SS. Then she noticed the red haired girl standing behind them. "You saved me." It wasn't a question.

"When the boys left the Great Hall I knew something was wrong. So I followed. I left a golden string of light so we wouldn't get lost. What curse was he using to make you scream? Was it the Cruciatus curse?" Rose asked. Hope shrugged.

"I don't know. My Mother never told me about dangerous curses," Hope said.

"There are three curses called the Unforgivable Curses. The Cruciatus curse causes extreme pain. It's the torture curse. The Imperious curse lets a person be controlled. And 'Avada Kedevra,' the killing curse. Any use of those on another human being gets you a life sentence in Azkaban," Rose explained.

"Avada Kedevra? Drexel was about to kill me?" Hope asked amazed. Rose nodded.

"I think so. The only question is why."

"I'm sorry, are we missing something? Since when are you two so buddy-buddy?" SS demanded. Rose and Hope looked at him, then realized that they had been acting like friends. They had grown close during their study time in the library. They felt like friends. Best friends. "I thought you didn't like any of us?"

"Oh, I don't like you, Malfoy, don't worry. But Hope is an innocent person. She didn't deserve to be almost killed," Rose growled, her face flushed with anger. Al looked fearfully between his best mate and his best cousin.

"Are you sure? I'm pretty sure you would just love for all the Slytherins to drop dead! Isn't that right Weasley!" SS yelled.

"Only one Slytherin, Malfoy, only you, you vile piece of scum," Rose hissed. Then she ran back down the stairs, following a glowing line in the air.

"Coward! That's right, run away like a little girl!" SS called after her.

"SS. Stop," Al whispered.

"Why? She's the one who hates me!" SS yelled.

"Can you drop your fight with my cousin for one minute? We have to get Hope to the Hospital Wing," Al replied.

"Yes please," Hope gasped as she tried to stand. But her legs weren't feeling right. She fell into Al and SS's arms. Both boys helped her down the stairs to Healer Fallax. After they told them what had happened she called in the teachers and Headmistress so that Hope could retell the story.

Teachers were sent to search for Drexel, but no one ever found him. Hope's Mother was contacted as well, even though she begged them not to bother her. Hope spent the night in the Hospital Wing and in the morning, before anyone had awoken, Rose crept out of her tower and visited her.

"What did he say again?" Rose asked.

"He said he needed my blood, but that they could use one of the other's. And he said this in a raspy voice when his eyes turned milky white," Hope told her.

"One of the other's? You must be in some sort of group, selected, special," Rose mused.

"How could it be Drexel?"

"I have no idea. Maybe he was trying to scare you?"

"That doesn't make sense. He wasn't himself when he attacked me."

"I'm going to do some research at the library today after lessons," Rose assured Hope. "When are you getting out?"

"Healer Fallax said I could leave this afternoon. So I might join you in the library."

"No, catch up on the work you'll miss. I have no doubt that my Uncle Harry will figure this out. He works at the Department of Magical Law Enforcement."

"So then why are you going to research it?" Hope asked slyly, grinning.

"Because I just want to!" Rose cried. Hope laughed and Rose joined in. Suddenly the doors to the Hospital Wing opened and in walked Al and SS. Rose leaped up as if she had been shocked. SS froze.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded.

"I was just visiting. No need to lose your temper," Rose replied coldly.

"You're not her friend! Get out of here, Weasley!" SS roared.

"I have as much right to be here as you do Malfoy! If Healer Fallax isn't worried about you being in here then why can't I be here?" Rose yelled back. Both had drawn their wands.

"Guys, can you not fight?" Al requested.

"And why would Healer Fallax worry about me being here?" SS demanded, his wand pointing at Rose's heart. Her eyes narrowed into slits.

"Because only a very powerful Dark Wizard could hoodwink the Sorting Hat. I bet your Father taught you how to do that. I be you're Daddy's boy through and through!" Rose screamed. SS was shacking with fury.

"BOMBARDA!" he screamed. Rose flew back into another bed.

"SS!" Al yelled in shock. Rose got up, furious. She raised her wand.

"MUCUS AD NAUSEAM!" she hollered. Green, icky bogies began to flow out of SS's nose, dripping onto his robe and tie. Rose grinned triumphantly. SS collapsed, trying to stem the flow. Rose turned to look at Hope.

"Feel better," she whispered and ran out of the room. Al and Hope were too shocked to move for a moment.

"Is she the first person in our year to master that hex?" Hope wondered in a whisper. Al nodded dumbly. "Amazing."

"A little help here!" SS yelled, drawing their attention to the sticky bogies covering his robes. More flowed out of his nose like water out of a faucet. Sweat beaded his forehead.

"We haven't learned the counter curse yet," Al said worriedly. "Should I get Healer Fallax?"

"No. Then Rose and SS will get in trouble. Al, give me your DADA text book," Hope said. She riffled through the pages, her eyes franticly searching. Finally she looked up.

"PROHIBERE INFIRMIATE!" she cried. A flash of red light and SS's nose had stopped flowing. His robes were clean and all the bogies had vanished. Hope turned in her bed to look at the damage that SS's spell had caused. "REPARO!" Everything instantly mended itself. "There. Much better."

"What was she doing here?" SS demanded as he stood up.

"She was seeing how I was. We were also trying to figure out why Drexel tried to kill me and what his words meant," Hope explained, annoyed.

"It means he's a nutter," SS said as he munched on a muffin he had brought up.

"That's obvious. But he said something," Hope wondered. Al looked interested but SS was bored.

"Like I said, he's a nutter. Whatever Barks said, it was nonsense," SS told them. Al shrugged.

"We brought you breakfast. We can't stay long since we have morning lessons, but we can come during lunch," Al said. He handed her a piece of toast then gathered his stuff. "Oh, I made you this." Al then handed her a homemade green card with silver glitter and a get well greeting. Hope was touched.

Around three in the afternoon Hope was released from the Hospital Wing. She walked through the busy halls listening to well wishes from passing students. The story of her attack had spread rather quickly.

Hope's feet carried her, not to her common room, but to the library. Hiding behind giant stacks of books was the person she was looking for. Rose Weasley. Her red hair fell down her back as her eyes read at top speed. Hope coughed lightly so that she wouldn't startle her. But Rose still leaped up, wand in hand, eyes crazed, ready for a duel. Then she saw Hope.

"Sorry," she said, flushed. "I'm just on edge. I've been reading everything I can get my hands on and I have a loose theory or two." Rose back down and Hope pulled up a chair next to her.

"What are your theories?" Hope asked.

"Well, I found out that blood is only powerful if you have powerful ancestors or something happened in your past. Like my Uncle Harry and," Rose's voice dropped to a whisper, "Voldemort."

"So what do you think?"

"Well, did anything life altering happen in your past, or something extremely magical?"

"Not that I know of."

"Who are your parents?"

"My Mum is Valentina Fawley. I don't know who my Dad was."

"Interesting. Your last name is Fawley."

"Yeah, my Mum didn't want to name me after him. She said she wasn't his biggest fan but that I shouldn't hate him," Hope sighed.

"I've seen your Mum. She's a reformed Death Eater right?"

"What?" Hope shouted. "What do you mean 'reformed Death Eater'?"

"My Dad told me that she had been a very loyal servant of Voldemort until the end. Then something happened. She never told you this?" Rose asked.

"No, never," Hope whispered in shook.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Rose said, looking embarrassed.

"It's fine. I just never knew. What were you going to say?"

"I was just going to say that you two don't look alike at all."

"Yeah, we get that a lot," Hope muttered, still reeling. So that was why her mother always worn long sleeves, even in the summer. Was this the reason why they never left the house? Because Valentina was too ashamed?

Hope didn't tell anyone what she had learned. She fully intended to ask her other about it when she came home for Christmas holiday.