Laurel: A Very Long and Very Unusual Second Life
Part Three: Astra Inclinant [The Stars Incline Us]
Chapter Six: Vestīgia [Footprints]
6 February 1991. 4:36pm
Rushing into the Gryffindor common room, Laurel immediately spotted Fred, George and Lee colluding in the corner furthest from her. After a steady moment to calm her breath, Laurel resumed her fast pace and fell into the seat beside Fred. Across from them, George gave Lee an unforgiving shove with his elbow and nodded suspiciously to his twin brother. Lee rolled his eyes and left with a huff, Laurel stared after him then turned to the twins with narrowed eyes.
"What was that about?" She asked with suspicion.
George smiled widely, "Original members only for this conversation!"
Laurel stared at him in disbelief, before stating frankly, "George, that's horrible."
"Well, he's gone now...we'll fill him in later!" Fred poked her on the cheek, she wrinkled her nose and slapped the hand away.
"Whatever," Laurel sighed, then she slid out of the booth and gestured for Fred to do the same. He did so with some confusion, then Laurel manoeuvred him into the seat beside his brother, and sat back in the seat opposite them.
At their identical look of confusion, she explained, "Wouldn't do for the interrogator to collude with the accused, now, would it?" The twins turned sheepish, interrupting their protests against the label, "You've been stalking me, now explain how and why." Laurel looked at them expectantly, both Fred and George flushed a stark red.
"Okay, quit it with the 'stalker' stuff—"
"It's not as creepy as all that!" They argued, Laurel continued to stare at them with her eyebrows raised in expectation. Fred huffed in annoyance, then bent down to rifle around in his backpack. When he placed an old, yellowed piece of parchment on the table, Laurel had her moment of epiphany.
"Oh, that makes sense!" Laurel smiled wide, reaching forward and bringing the parchment closer. It was completely blank, but Laurel knew that it must be the Marauder's Map.
"Hang on, you know about the Map?" George exclaimed, Laurel looked up, eyes wide at having been caught.
She backtracked, "What map? I was...being facetious, why have you put an old bit of parchment in front of me and called it a proper explanation?" Laurel narrowed her eyes at them to emphasise her point, suppressing an amused smile at her poor attempt at a diversion.
"Oh..." They nodded thoughtfully, Laurel sighed in relief that they accepted it as fact, "Well...it's not a bit of old parchment, it's a map!" Both Fred and George looked at her with wide eyes and wide smiles, but they soon dissipated as she did not react as if that was the most exciting news since the Weird Sisters announced their tour of '89.
"Okay, it's a map...how?" Laurel turned over the parchment and studied its imperfections; one would have to know that it was important to not dismiss it on first sight.
"You have to say an incantation!" George said obviously.
"Go on, then." Laurel put the Map down and pushed it towards them.
George took out his wand and rested it against the centre of the parchment after looking around to check that no one in the room was paying them any attention, clearing his throat dramatically, he proclaimed, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good!"
Spidery black lines of ink began to spread from where the tip of George's wand touched the parchment, Laurel looked on in wonder as the skeleton of the Hogwarts Castle established itself on the previously blank surface. Her eyes widened as her fingers reached forward to trace lightly along the spreading lines.
"There's the proper wonder!" Fred beamed at her, "Brilliant, isn't it?"
"Is this...Hogwarts?" Laurel edged her fingers under the creases and flicked the map open, her eyes flicked between the rooms, they quickly found Gryffindor Tower. Leaning forward, she saw three sets of inky black footprints huddled in a corner on the parchment: her, Fred and George's names idled near them, "Is that us?"
"Yep!"
"Shows everyone in Hogwarts all the time!"
"This is amazing," Laurel smiled widely at them, their excitement being infectious, "Where did you find this?"
They both looked suddenly sheepish, sharing a glance, then Fred spoke, "Well, we got it from Filch's office last year."
"Y'know, for that prank with the gnome in Dumbledore's...?" George added. Laurel snorted at the memory, she nodded her head.
"So, you stole it?" Before Fred and George began their protests, she continued, "From Filch, I suppose that's acceptable." Another snort.
They fell into silence, Laurel still studying the map. Peering closely, she noticed the tiny footsteps of Dumbledore pacing in his office. Gaze dropping, the four small paw prints of Mrs Norris the cat leapt across the page following an even smaller set of paw prints of something called 'Dave,' which looked to be a rodent or other small animal of some sort.
Laurel broke the quiet, "Don't think I've forgotten about the weird stalking." She slightly narrowed her eyes up at them. They turned sheepish once more.
"We're sorry." They said in unison, eyes wide with apology. Laurel looked between the two for a long moment, before deciding that perhaps they were genuinely apologetic.
"Fine." She relented.
After a moment of cheer, they started forward again, Fred started "Why were you in the seventh floor corridor—"
"The abandoned one?" George added.
"No reason to be, really—"
"And...your footsteps disappeared on the map!" George exclaimed.
Fred widened his eyes dramatically, "The map's never been wrong before!"
Laurel huffed at their questions, "What's with the barrage? Don't think I can't retract that apology, you two. I'm entitled to my own secrets!" At their continuing to stare at her expectantly, "I'll tell you one day, maybe." She relented, they continued to stare, "C'mon!"
"Ugh, fine." Fred groaned, pouting and brandishing his wand, "Mischief managed!" He tapped the parchment and the spidery lines retreated until the parchment was blank once more.
10 March 1991. 2:14pm
It had taken a month, but Laurel had done it; she had found Ravenclaw's lost diadem. Amongst the many stacks of dusted, undisturbed furniture, the diadem had been placed on top of a puke-green cabinet. If Laurel had not been searching for many a night for this diadem, she could surely have overlooked it. The gold of the setting was discoloured, only the brilliant green gem set in the centre shone anymore. Narrowing her eyes and looking closer, Laurel could see intricate engravings on the twining metal that she recognised as Latin.
With fingers pale white and trembling, Laurel reached out for the diadem, lifting it from its home of some half a century. Dust mites clung to the metal and she swiped them off absent-mindedly, holding the metal tightly in front of her. Waiting for a moment, Laurel braced herself for the feeling of being so near a dark magical object.
Just as she had decided that the dark feeling would not come and she was loosening her tense muscles, a wave of pure hate and fear rushed over Laurel. A gasp escaped her and echoed loudly in the tall chamber, cutting itself short on the piles of lost things. Her skin pimpled with goosebumps and the hairs on her arm raised. With a shiver, Laurel set the diadem back down, her fingers lingered on the metal as if fused to it. The dark feeling did not pass. It felt as though she had sunken into the Black Lake, as if icy cold water was rushing over her skin and seeping into her veins, filling her entire body with a shiver.
Gulping, she slipped her fingers from the diadem and the icy water rushed back out. Laurel sighed in relief, she was cold and the fear remained a threat in her mind, but the worst had left as she broke contact with the diadem. She glared down at the offending object, knowing that she would have to feel that once more, that she would have to take the diadem and keep it safe from anyone who would interfere until she knew how to destroy it.
Laurel's fingers shook greater than they had before as she reached out once more, with a sharp inhale her fingers closed around the cold metal. There was a rushing sound in her ears as her heart pumped faster and she shivered as the cold fear filled her once more. Shaking her head as if to dislodge the sound, she gripped tightly around the diadem and started down the row she had come down.
The walk back seemed to last a lifetime, her sharp breaths were loud in the room and she paced quickly through the maze of towering piles that she had come to know well in the month she had spent among them. Closing her eyes, Laurel let her feet take her around twisting corners and she soon found herself near the entrance. Opening her eyes, Laurel saw the elaborate, metal doors towering high above her, just a few dozen steps away.
As she took her first step, a harsh gust of wind blew over her neck, her hand came up to grasp it. Looking behind her, the room was as still as it had ever been. Another gust, but with her hand there she knew that it was not from wind. The cold fear continued to rise and rise, she felt twining fingers and nails and knives scraping softly against her skin, tormenting her. With a cry, she loosened her fingers and let the diadem drop. It fell against the stone floor with a metallic clatter, and the feelings lessened, her scrunched features relaxed and she breathed a sigh of relief.
Narrowing her eyes, Laurel glared at the diadem that sat so innocently by the broken egg shells. It certainly felt like a piece of a dark lord's soul was in it, Laurel was not eager to pick it up again. But she had to, she just had to. Quickly, Laurel scrambled to pick it up and cringed at the rush of fear and hatred, she sprinted the few steps to the doors and eased out of them.
With a shudder, Laurel navigated the abandoned corridor leading to the Room of Requirement, then breathed a sigh of relief as she re-entered civilisation, shoving the diadem under her jumper. The yelling and general mischief that filled the air around her helped to muffle the darkness emanating from the diadem, she sidled through the bustling crowds of students that was common on a Sunday, soon finding herself in front of the Fat Lady.
"Password?"
"Veni, vidi, dormivi." Laurel bustled through the portrait, who hummed and hawed at her impatient tone.
"Laurel!" A body slammed into hers and she huffed as the metal of the diadem bit into her skin, it was one of the twins.
She ducked out of their arms, "Not now, Fred!" Laurel sprinted for the winding staircase to the girl's dormitory.
"I'm George." He pouted from where she had left him, shivering at the uneasy feeling that had washed over him.
Laurel paid him no mind and entered her dorm, landing on her knees in front of her trunk. Clicking open the latches, she opened the trunk and fished the diadem out from under her jumper, promptly stuffing it in the trunk under a pile of socks and underpants. She let go of the trunk's lid and it fell shut with a thump, Laurel leant back and collapsed onto the floor. With a smile, she noted the dark feeling eked from her body and she only felt the warm sun on her face from the open window and a sense of absolute relief.
"Let's never do that again." She mumbled to herself as she clambered onto her soft bed, curling up by her pillow, never mind that there're about five more horcruxes to collect, one of them being my own brother. Laurel groaned into her pillow at the thought.