Jenny closed her eyes and breathed in the cool evening air. It was almost sweet with the scent of hawthorn flower and pine emanating from the trees at her back, heralding the year turning towards the summer.
She had taken her shoes and socks off, and left her jumper folded neatly on the rock that she had come to think of as her own; she wriggled her toes appreciatively in the cool, slightly damp grass, revelling in the sensation.
There wasn't much of a breeze, and for that she was grateful; the air was cool on her bare arms, just the way she liked it.
Had it been any other night she would have gladly curled up on the roof of one of the Greenhouses to read or to watch the stars.
But it wasn't any other night.
Delicately, Jenny fingered the necklace that Remus had given her for her birthday, all those painful months before. The elegant porcelain rose glinted daintily in the light of the waning moon and she smiled, enjoying its simple beauty. She tucked the necklace back under her t-shirt and thought of him, choosing to dwell on the way things had been before all of this – when Jenny had hoped that they would be together for the rest of their lives.
She smiled at the memory of him, looking around at the dark forest and still, silvery lake, remembering how nervous he had been when he'd asked her out – and later when he'd trusted her with the truth of his condition… trusted her with the knowledge that could have destroyed him.
He was such a good and kind man, and she hoped that he'd find someone that could make him as happy as he deserved.
One day.
She thought of the children back at the home, of the clamour of their parties and daytrips, and peaceful evenings reading the young ones to sleep.
She thought of happy afternoons working with the plants in the greenhouses, feeling the good, clean earth under her fingertips and the simple joy of seeing the first seedlings appear in spring.
She thought of her friends, a rowdy and vibrant bunch that generally went unnoticed by the teachers, no matter what they did.
She thought fleetingly of Madame Pomfrey and Professor Sprout, genuinely concerned for her well-being.
She thought of Frank and Sirius, so intent on finding a cure for something that neither of them could fathom.
Jenny smiled, sweetly.
Really, she thought, peacefully, I'm so very lucky to have such wonderful friends.
With this in mind, she stepped into the lake, quickly finding that she couldn't stand up anymore. Surprised at the depth – and the shock of the cold water – she gasped, shaking water out of her eyes.
She swam out to the middle of the lake, enjoying the feel of the water and delighting in the movement after so many months of inactivity. She took a moment to look around; it seemed to Jenny that she was swimming in a lake of liquid silver. She glanced up at the Castle, thinking again of all her friends.
Soon, someone would notice her absence – having been out of class for the past two days the teachers would probably already be looking for her. She couldn't let them find her, that would never do.
The thing inside her stirred, perhaps guessing her intention.
She couldn't let it hurt them.
She wouldn't let it.
Steeling her resolve, she took a deep breath and ducked under the water. The silence was so loud beneath the surface…
A mass of pondweed and stone greeted her as she swam downwards, like something from another world. She felt a sharp pain in her neck and put her fingers to the wound. The blood floated away like a small cloud in the cold, clear water.
She hadn't expected it to fight back.
Jenny swam to the bottom of the lake, determined to keep her friends safe, and took hold of a thick root protruding from the lake bed.
Her lungs were beginning to burn from want of air, and a second wave of pain seared through her as long blue spikes thrust themselves through her skin.
Undaunted and relentless, she kept her hold on the root, anchoring herself to the floor of the pool.
It isn't going to win, she assured herself, as her vision began to blue with pain and delirium. I won't let it hurt anyone else.
Every part of her body was screaming at her to let go, but she ignored it, concentrating all her will on her hands, gripping desperately in the gloom.
In an agonising instant she felt the spines lengthen, bursting through her flesh; she cried out, and the lake water poured into her open mouth.
It seared her throat and lungs, making her choke and cough, desperate for air – but to no avail, there was only more water. She thrashed and shook in the water, bringing up silt and bits of pondweed that clung to her skin, but still she clung to the root, resolute despite her terror.
The root was the last thing she saw as her vision dimmed, the only thing keeping the thing that was trying to force its way out of her body away from her friends in the Castle.
Their lifeline.
Gradually, the movement in her body ceased, swathed in pondweed, and everything in that part of the lake was still.