Author's Note: Sorry for the wait! Also, I added in something small to a previous chapter to correct something I had forgotten. In my head, Draco had made certain the other DA coins were long since destroyed, so no one at the Ministry is alerted to their secret location. I had meant to write it in and simply forgot. Some of you were concerned, so I thought I would mention it. There are a lot of small details to keep straight in this story! Sorry for that!

Get ready for an intense chapter, guys. I suggest killer music for this one.


"[Harry] wanted to be stopped, to be dragged back, to be sent home… but he was home. Hogwarts was the first and best home he had known. He and Voldemort and Snape, the abandoned boys, had all found home here…"

HPDH


In the early hours of the morning, Draco Malfoy creeped into the home of Theodore Nott. His body still ached from the curse Blaise had ruthlessly set upon him only eight or nine hours before, but he forced himself to move in the shadows anyway. As soon as he found Theo sleeping in his bed, Draco pulled out his wand, his mouth set in a tight grimace.

He pointed the wand at Theo's head. After a pause, he murmured, "Obliviate."

Theo's body shifted and then sagged in sleep, but he didn't move further. His breathing continued, mellow and steady, and Draco lifted his wand, satisfied. However, as soon as he stepped out of the bedroom, he was met with the ghostly looking form of Lavender.

"He wouldn't have told," she murmured hoarsely, startling Draco, who relaxed only a little when he saw her.

"I can't take that chance," he told her. "He wanted to kill me."

"I told him not to do anything that would bring harm to either of you," said Lavender, her eyes shining. "I didn't know he was going to attack you."

"Doesn't matter now," said Draco, and honestly, he bore no grudge against Lavender. It was not her fault that he and Ginny had frightened her into a panic. They should have known better, but Ginny thought – she suggested … that it may help Lavender to try and fight again. She had been wrong. That was alright, but it left a few loose ends to tie up.

Draco gave Lavender a curt nod and then moved to slip past her, but she stopped him with a hand on his arm. "Malfoy…" Her eyes lifted to his. "Can you – can you take my memories, too?"

Draco's brows furrowed. "You mean… obliviate you? Of the memory of what we told you?"

"Yes." She squared her shoulders, even as her body trembled. "I can't – I don't want to know." Her voice cracked.

Draco sighed. "It might be wiser for you to be aware of what's going on…"

"I can't handle it," she told him stoically, even as a single tear slipped down her cheek. "I won't feel safe." She touched her fist to her stomach, and Draco knew without asking of the heavy weight she carried, the anxiety that twisted her insides. She did not feel safe with the knowledge she had been given. And he understood that.

There were a great many things he wished he did not know.

And so, in perhaps his greatest act of mercy, Draco stepped up to Lavender and lightly touched his wand to her temple. With a deep breath, he concentrated the complex spell on that morning he and Ginny had shared with Lavender. She closed her eyes as he whispered the spell, her hands still curled in tight fists against her front.

Several seconds passed in silence.

Lavender opened her eyes to find she was alone. Confused as to why she had gotten out of bed, the bewildered young witch walked back into her room, where her infant son lay sleeping in his crib.

She smiled, reaching out and lovingly tracing his cheek. Then she turned and went back into bed, where she slept peacefully for the rest of the night.


The day arrived sooner than Draco might've wished for their trip to Hogwarts. The adults gathered at Steep Park House, though Draco took as much time as possible to linger alone. He looked up to see Ginny talking with Blanca, as she often did. Ginny tried in every moment to match Blanca step for step. She was so impressed with the American witch, so smitten with Blanca's confidence and command. It made Draco smirk, because a part of him was glad to see Ginny look to someone she admired so much, someone who would have certainly been a Gryffindor had she been born in England.

Still, he wished she found so many admirable qualities in him. Perhaps she did. There was no time to discuss it now, though. Even when they were along, things felt strangely distanced between them. Just the night before, Draco had caught Ginny changing in their room, and his eyes lingered on her stomach, where the slightest hint of a bump was now visible.

Ginny had spotted him looking and hurriedly dressed herself before leaving, and Draco had fallen into a chair and stared balefully at the ceiling for half an hour before he could will himself to get up. He just wanted his wife back. His best friend. The only person who had truly lifted his heart in his entire life.

That person was still there, but she had become elusive. Her stubbornness had hardened into apathy, and her determination sharpened into near-ruthlessness. She was willing to do whatever it took to win this war, and while that might have been something Draco would have teasingly mentioned to her before as yet another Slytherin quality, now it simply felt like a crevice, a growing gap between them.

He could not make her talk, no matter what he tried. And he could not dissuade her from this dangerous mission. His only option was to be there with her… and prepare for the worst.

"Draco?"

He lifted his eyes at the sound of his name, and the heavy roll on the 'R' he knew to belong to that little Scottish Muggleborn girl, Maggie. "What?" he asked, leaning over to tie his boots from where he sat on a chair. They were to leave any minute now for Hogsmeade.

The little girl edged forward. "I know you're afraid," she said, although the children hadn't been told about the mission, so Draco wasn't sure how she knew that, "so I made you a friend to keep you safe." She opened her palms to reveal a piece of paper folded like a bird. She had colored on it with crayon so that it had a blue head and pink-tipped wings. "I didn't name him," she said with a serious nod. "I wanted you to do it."

Draco reached out and accepted the bird, even though he did so with a raised brow. He paused, looking with a straight face at the little girl's earnest expression. "Thank you," he said at last, unable to conjure up an enthusiastic tone. "What should I do with it?"

"Well, you've got to name him, first." She waited for Draco to do so, and he barely kept himself from sighing.

"Fine," said Draco. "His name is… " He looked at the pink-tipped wings. "Pinkie."

"Thas' a good name," said Maggie, nodding in approval. "Now you just have to carry Pinkie with you, and when you need him, he will help you."

Draco looked at the motionless paper bird. "Right," he said, tucking the bird into his robes. "Good work."

Maggie smiled. She was less atrocious looking now that she had been cleaned up and put in some proper clothes. She even had little dimples, which were kind of cute. They both paused, and then Maggie looked up, tilting her head. "You should go," she told Draco. "They're waiting for you."

Draco followed her gaze, but whoever she must have seen, they were gone now. Rising with a sigh, Draco joined the others, including Ginny, who at least looked over at him with a small smile and took his hand in hers. Draco felt some of his anxiety ease at the familiar grip of her hand, and he returned the squeeze. Still, he could not help but think of the glimpse he'd seen earlier of her slowly growing belly. He was not a valiant Gryffindor or a well-trained soldier, like all the rest of those here. He could not guarantee that their mission would succeed, or that everyone would survive. All he knew was he would protect Ginny, whatever that meant for everyone else.

"Please, George," came a tearful voice, accent growing heavier in her despair. "Please let me come, I will be so worried – "

"Vera," murmured George, pulling her away from the others. "It would be better if you stayed here – "

"But I am so scared for you," she whispered in a small voice, cheeks shining.

"I have to go," he told her gently. "I know Hogwarts the best out of any of them. But don't worry, eh? I'll be fine." He gave her a small but genuine smile and brushed her lips with his. "I wouldn't leave you. You know that."

Vera gave a reluctant nod and sniffled, her shoulders curled tight. She murmured to him in Russian, and George must have understood, because he smiled more broadly and kissed each of her cheeks before letting go of her – albeit with a great deal of reluctance of his own – and moved away to the others. Vita stepped forward and wrapped her arms around her sister sympathetically.

"So," said Blanca to the entire group. "Just to review – I will be entering Hogwarts School with Alec and Ben on my team. Draco, Ginny and George Weasley will make up the other half of the expedition. McGonagall and Slughorn will go with us to the drop off point, and they'll be waiting for us in case anything goes wrong." Blanca put her hands on her hips. "Now, we're going to get in there, find this No-Maji'in tracker before Damien Black figures it out, and then get the hell out of there. If all goes well, this will be a quick in and out."

Alec looked like he was dying to make a joke about Blanca's instructions, but he kept it to himself.

"Alright," said Blanca, looking back to Ginny and Draco. "Let's move out."


A new night had just begun to settle over Hogsmeade when the group arrived in secret. The sky above had already darkened into a cool grey accented in purple, and a few brave stars made their artful appearances in the sky. The snow had since melted from Christmas time, and hints of spring made the occasional appearance in the form of fresh dewy grass and earthy smells. During this time of year, most of the homes in Hogsmeade normally kept their windows open, enjoying the growing warmth and the pleasant winds.

However, as the group arrived under the cover of growing shadows, they saw that not one window was open. In fact, many of the homes in the normally bustling village appeared abandoned, with openings boarded up and doors firmly closed. Some doorways looked damaged, as if they had been blasted open, and the scars of war still lingered in the form of divots along the well-worn roads.

George Weasley crept along at the front of the group, his normally playful eyes sharp.

"Honeydukes is this way," he whispered.

Draco and Ginny moved behind him, with the three Americans behind them, and Slughorn and McGonagall brought up the rear. Ginny looked around at the shadowy village, her eyes wide. It felt like a cruel mockery of what the place had been, and a quick glance at Draco's dark expression let her know that she wasn't the only one feeling distressed at Hogsmeades' hellish appearance. The mistiness that clinged to the roads further added to the chill in the air.

Blanca suddenly held up a hand. "Stop!" she hissed, and the entire group froze, though Ginny stumbled a little at the abrupt command. Looking to her right, wand in hand, Blanca's dark eyes focused on the narrow gap between two empty shops. The chill Ginny had felt before intensified sharply, and although she could not see what Blanca had seen, she knew instantly what hovered near them. Unease crawled along Ginny's skin and raised every hair, leaking into her pounding heart even as she kept as still and silent as she could.

Trembling, Ginny bit her lip hard to fight off the visions that plagued her as the tall, skeletal creatures wrapped in black robes glided down the streets of Hogsmeade. Ginny's body felt numb, and her knees threatened to give out on her. Her insides felt as if it had been engulfed in icy water, with stabbing pains attacking her every nerve.

Blanca kept her wand up and her eyes narrowed on the alleyway. Alec stayed by her side, and Ben crouched low, jaw set. The dementors had not seen them, but it was impossible to know how many of them there were patrolling Hogsmeade. They had to be careful.

Draco glanced down and saw Ginny trembling. His own insides felt like liquid, but he reached out and took her hand, curling his fingers in hers. He could not speak to her for fear of being overheard, so he simply lifted her knuckles to his lips and pressed a shaky kiss there. For a moment, Ginny did not react; then her watery eyes shifted to his, and she relaxed just a bit, giving him a small nod.

A few moments later, the trio of dementors had passed, and Blanca lowered her hand before pointing to George. The message was clear – move.

Nodding and shaking off the last of his own tremors, George hurried forward, still crouched, and the others followed behind him until they reached the back of Honeydukes. They came to the back door and George tried to unlock it, but a simple Alohomora would not do the trick.

"Let me," whispered McGonagall, edging forward. With a flick of her wand and a complicated spell, she was able to unlock it, and the door opened with a slow, terrifying creak. Night had fallen in earnest now, and as the group shuffled into the dark, web-covered shop, they all seemed to realize in the same moment that it had not been in use in quite a while.

George beckoned them forward, and quickly he moved behind the counter and found the door to the cellar. Blanca looked to McGonagall and Slughorn. "This is where we leave you," she whispered. "You know the plan. We have an hour to get in and out of there. If you see red sparks, that means get the hell out of here, with or without us. Got it?"

McGonagall clenched her jaw and gave a tight nod. "Please take care of them," she said in a stiff whisper, her throat bobbing over a hard swallow. Blanca gave a firm nod, before turning and dropping down the steps into the pitch-dark cellar.

Ginny took one last look at McGonagall and Slughorn before moving inside as well, and Draco took no time in following her. George was, once more, at the front.

Quickly, George found the trap door leading to Hogwarts beneath the cellar. "Lumos," he whispered, as did the others. The light from their wands illuminated a winding passageway carved into the earth, with dirt and bits of stone supporting the narrow path and its walls. Draco glanced up as they began the hour-long walk to the opening at Hogwarts, and he felt himself shiver as the earth shifted and groaned around them. Bits of dirt occasionally fell from above them, landing on their robes. The skittering noises of creatures unknown further added to the eeriness of the passage, as did the knowledge that it was very possible Damien had discovered this passageway… and planted security measures along the way.

However, as they continued to walk in tense silence, no such obstacles met them. The path continued for what felt like a very long time, turning and twisting as if an underground river had carved this pathway for itself. Once or twice, Draco could swear he heard footsteps above them, but George assured them that this passage was deep underground, and no one would be able to hear them from above until they got closer to Hogwarts.

At last, the path straightened, and George slowed, peering ahead cautiously.

"Is that the entrance?" asked Blanca, and he nodded. She waved him away and stepped forward, with Alec at her back. Together, they moved to the short slide that signaled the stone sculpture which protected the Hogwarts entry to their tunnel. Climbing up it to the stone, Blanca listened carefully while Alec checked for harmful enchantments.

"Seems your guess was right, Weasley," he whispered to George. "Black must not know this path is here."

"Very few people do," admitted George. "The password for the statue is Dissendium. And you have to tap the stone."

Nodding, Blanca tapped her wand on the stone and murmured the password as George had directed. After a pause, the stone moved with a groan, sliding aside. Blanca and Alec stood crowding the doorway, ready to defend against anything or anyone that might be waiting. However, they were met only with the familiar stone corridors of Hogwarts. Pausing to listen for anyone investigating the sound of the stone, Blanca looked back and then nodded, as if satisfied. "Alright, Weasley. You're up again."

George stepped forward, and Ginny and Draco moved up behind him, with the Americans once again following behind. The group emerged from behind the statue and creeped into the hallway, where they looked left and right before George jerked his head in one direction, and they followed. At first, they saw only the nondescript corridor. Then they began finding more classrooms and courtyards, where the night sky appeared in the shapes of the windows and arches, and the moon pushed back brilliantly against the darkness.

A growing sense of unease filled Draco, and he looked at Ginny and George, both of whom seemed to share his thoughts. The halls of Hogwarts seemed … strange, unfamiliar. Where there had once been lively chandeliers and brilliant banners, there were decrees written in thick text and housed in heavy frames. All the doors had great iron locks on them. The classrooms were devoid of their usual trinkets and décor, instead only housing many tables with textbooks already in place. George paused and picked one up, his brows furrowed. It had been printed, stated the cover, by the Department of Magical Education at the Ministry. Flipping through it, he saw that it was a mirror image of the non-practical book used by Umbridge during her time at Hogwarts. Scowling, he put it down and they continued.

"Hell of a creepy school you've got here," whispered Blanca from behind them, looking around.

"It's not supposed to look like this," murmured Ginny, fingers curling into fists. "This isn't Hogwarts."

"Come on," said George, edging away from the Charms classroom. "We need to get looking. And Dumbledore's old office is the best place to get started."

The group moved and turned for the staircases, which they traversed step by step, making every effort at silence. They had yet to see anyone, but Damien was there somewhere, as was some others. They were halfway up one staircase when it shifted, gliding at a leisurely pace and nearly losing Ben on the bottom step. "Holy hell!" he hissed lowly, gripping the banister. "What's going on?"

George grinned just a bit. "Relax, this is normal." At the Americans' blank stares, he asked, "What? The stairs at your school don't move?"

"Hell no our staircases don't fucking move!"

"We do have doors that shrink the closer you get to 'em, though," Blanca whispered dryly. "So sometimes you gotta run and dive through like you're fricken Alice in Wonderland."

They reached the landing George was looking for and turned to head in the direction of Dumbledore's office. "What are we even looking for?" asked Ginny at last, her heart pounding. "Do we have any idea?"

Draco crouched near Ginny as they shuffled along. "When I brought it up to McGonagall, she said Dumbledore had once told her there was a small tool or artifact or something he'd been given by Dippet to help find Muggleborns. It would be something inconspicuous, she said, something that would give him access to a part of Hogwarts no one else even knew about."

"Like a key?"

"Well, it would be great if that were the case, but I have a feeling it will be much more obscure than that…"

At last, they reached Dumbledore's office. "Lemon drop," tried George, but the great stone did not move. "Damn. I bet Umbridge has changed it."

Blanca stepped forward. "We might can get it open – "

"Don't even bother," came a new voice, old and hoarse.

The group whirled around, wands raised, and the owner of the voice stumbled back, hands raised. "Hole it, hole it," the old caretaker grunted, stooped behind his arms. Draco's eyes widened.

"Filch," he said, before advancing on him, wand raised. Filch stumbled back again.

"Hole it, I said!" croaked the old man, his shifty eyes scanning the group of them. "You don't need into the Headmaster's office to find what yer' looking for."

Draco's eyes narrowed, his wand still pointing at Filch. "How do you know what we're looking for?"

"Why else would you be here?" asked Filch slowly, and although he apparently aimed to help them, he seemed to take delight in holding something they wanted. "You want to help the Muggleborns… right?" Reaching into his filthy cloak, he pulled out something he kept closed inside his palm.

"I been in this school…" he murmured, eyes on his hand. " … A real long time." He looked up at them, his misshapen face looking over them all with a snotty grimace. "This is what he used. I've seen it."

"Why would you give it to us?" asked Draco. "If it really is what you say it is."

At this, Filch's grotesque face contorted further, and Draco realized he looked as if he might cry. After a long moment, Filch admitted in a guttural whisper, "They killed her."

The group looked at one another.

"They killed her," he said again, "Mrs. Norris."

George and Ginny exchanged glances. Oh, thought Ginny, with a pang of sympathy. "Damien and the others, you mean?" she asked in a whisper.

"Ya, soon as they got here," said Filch, sniffling. "Cursed her right in front of me." He no longer seemed to care about teasing them, and he tossed the small item into Draco's palm. "Killed her, just like that! Heartless … vagabond… no-good wretches… Murderin' her like that..." He sniffled. "I hope they burn, I do." He looked up at them with sudden malice. "You take that thing, and you come back here an' you kill 'em. You kill 'em all, for what they did to my Mrs. Norris."

Draco raised a brow, as he had more than once gleefully imagined the death of that tattle-tail cat, but he simply nodded. "Very well then," he said, willing to take help where help was given. Filch grunted at them, sneered at Ginny and George and then hobbled away, disappearing around a corner.

"Do you think we can trust him?" asked Blanca, grimacing at his retreating back.

"If they really killed his cat," whispered George, "I'm surprised he hasn't brought this whole bloody castle down on their heads."

"A cat? Are you serious?" asked Ben.

"What did he give you, Malfoy?" asked Blanca, edging forward. Draco's brows furrowed, and he held it up between his fingers. It appeared to be a small stone triangle with a dark marble texture. In the center, there was the perfect cutout of a circle. The entire thing was small enough to fit in the center of Draco's palm.

"Just… this," he said, bewildered. "Do you think it'll work?"

"We won't know until we go to the Great Hall," said Ginny. "That's what the note said. The answer you seek lies in the sky, but not the one in which you fly."

Merlin, Draco hoped they were right.

After a few minutes, the group came to the Great Hall, and the three former Hogwarts students stopped to stare.

The four long dinner tables that had once gathered the students with their houses were now arranged in large square, with one long table in the middle, very close to all the others. It appeared that the professors and headmaster now sat in the center, close enough to hear the students' conversations and closely watch their habits. The banners and tapestries were all gone, as was the beautiful bronze owl podium that Dumbledore had used. In its place was a cold stand made of very dark wood, all its edges sharp and imposing. The floating candles had been replaced with lamps in the corners of the large room, shrouding the room in shadows. A sign near the entrance dictated that regular meals were now a requirement, and roll would be taken to ensure attendance.

Ginny's eyes flickered to the large double-doors leading into the room, and she saw that now it had great big locks on it, undone for the moment but there, it would seem, just in case. Her jaw clenched.

In unison, the three former students' eyes turned up, terrified that this, too, had changed.

However, it looked exactly as it always had – an exact mimic of the sky outside. Tonight, it was dark with sporadic highlights of navy blue and scattered stars. A mistiness had overtaken it, though, and occasionally the thick air overwhelmed the stars so that pockets of nothingness looked down on them from above.

Draco looked down at the triangle in his palm. "What do I do?"

No one answered him, because no one knew. Draco had hoped that simply holding the stone in the Great Hall would show him the way, but nothing had happened. It looked the same as before. Moving forward towards the ominous square of rigid, undecorated tables, Draco examined the triangle thoughtfully.

After several moments, Draco looked up at the sky again. For a moment, he did nothing. Then he raised the triangle and peered through the hole in its center, gaze aimed up at the artificial stars. At first, he saw nothing unusual. Then, as he began to scan the sky, he saw something remarkable.

"There's a staircase in here," he said to the others, still peering through the triangle.

"What?" said George. "You're mad. There's no staircase in the Great Hall."

"I'm looking at it," said Draco. With the triangle still up and in front of one eye, Draco stepped forward until he came to the strange staircase that had appeared in front of him. He took one step and then another, climbing higher and higher, above the square tables and austere place settings.

Ginny, George, Blanca, Alec and Ben all watched as Draco seemingly stepped onto pockets of air, with no visible steps beneath him. Ginny's lips parted in disbelief.

At the top of the stairs, Draco realized he was very near the ceiling, and for the very first time, he saw that it was not a flat surface, but multiple layers of air and wind, just as if he were outside. At the top of the stairs, he was hip-deep in in the chilly magical air, with very little of the Great Hall left visible to him below. Clouds floated right next to his head, and he saw a star so close to his face that he felt as if he could open his mouth and swallow it. Draco reached forward in wonder.

As he did so, some of the clouds parted, and a small glowing set of stars appeared to him, just in front of where the staircase abruptly ended at its top. Draco hesitated, and then he inched the triangle forward, pressing it into the unique formation of stars. It fit perfectly, and when he tentatively released it, the triangle stayed there.

As he released it, the triangle glowed, and before anyone realized what was happening, the entire Great Hall was engulfed in a translucent field of moving figures highlighted in red sparkly tint. Ginny gasped, and Draco nearly fell off the stairs in alarm.

"What the hell?" whispered Blanca, looking all around, her wand raised defensively. However, it soon became apparent that these figures could not see them or hear them at all. In fact, they were not really there at all; each glowing shape was of a person, but they were interacting with others in an entirely different space.

As Draco turned in his spot high up in the air, he peered closer at the nearest figures. He could see a man cooking breakfast for his family. He saw a young teenage girl talking into some sort of Muggle device he didn't recognize. He saw yet more people hiding, crouched and low.

For a moment, Draco thought they were all Muggles. However, as he observed them closer, he realized they were witches and wizards – Muggleborns, of all ages and races and from all over Great Britain.

His first thought, of all things, was that there were so, so many of them. He felt confused, as if they were a mistake. How could there be so many Muggleborns in Great Britain? And after Voldemort's slaughter? Many of the highlighted figures were very young. Were these the next generation of Muggle-born students, not yet privy to their magic?

"Fuck," said Blanca, looking to the side, where one group of Muggleborns – the only visible part of their nightmarish surroundings – screamed and cried out against invisible people who seized them and dragged them away. Whatever was going on, the stunned group in Hogwarts could not see it. They could only see the Muggleborns.

"Step closer to them," ordered Draco from his spot, and Blanca moved forward, her eyes hard. As she did so, the names appeared beneath them in floating, smoky writing.

Mary Cattermole

Olivia Newbitt

Jacob Heraldson

Sarah Bennett

The Third Cell, Second Door

Department of MuggleBorn Registration, Ministry of Magic

London, England

Blanca stepped away, her eyes wide. The images of the Muggleborns began to fade, and the group seemed to sense that they were being dragged away. "I think this is what we need, Malfoy," said Blanca stiffly. "Let's wrap it up."

"How are we going to remember all this? We can't possibly record it," pointed at Draco, but even as he asked, the triangle glowed once more and a scroll appeared in front of him. On it came the names and addresses of those floating around him, and he received it in his hand, stunned. It was the first time in a very long time that magic had truly managed to impress him, and he wondered if this device, this strange magical spectacle, was as old as Hogwarts itself.

Taking both the scroll and the triangle, Draco navigated the invisible stairs back down to the floor and returned to the others. "We've got it, let's go."

The group left the Great Hall as the last of the glowing red specters fell away, and the Great Hall was left looking – well, not as it always had, but as the macabre version of itself that it had become since Damien and Umbridge had taken it over.

Together, they moved down the corridors and began to work their way back to the statue. However, voices ahead caused them to pause, and Draco's eyes widened. "It's Damien," he mouthed to the others, and Blanca, Alec and Ben all snatched the others back behind a trio of suits of armor. There was a small alcove which they all attempted to tuck themselves into for further concealment – there were gaps between the suits of armor, and the footsteps were approaching quickly – but how much cover the darkness offered, none of them was sure.

"… would like it all to be ready in a fortnight."

"Oh, I'm sure it will be. You musn't worry so much," came another voice, this one high-pitched and prim. "After all, you are not Headmaster of this school."

Ginny's jaw clenched, and a few of them peeked a bit to look down the hall, where Dolores Umbridge, cloaked in a garish pink cloak and a set of robes that fit a little too snuggly around her middle, looked up at Damien's unimpressed sneer.

"Who's that ugly bitch?" asked Blanca.

George took the liberty of explaining, "You-Know-Who thought it practical to combine used chewing gum with a toad. And out came Umbridge."

Down the corridor, Damien and Umbridge were still bickering. "I have every reason to be concerned when we are behind sched – "

"Ahem," fake-coughed Umbridge, and the desire to kill flared for a moment in Damien's eyes. When he stopped, Umbridge smiled. "May I remind you," she said with a chipper smile, "our schedule would not be quite so strained had you not released that troublesome poltergeist!"

Draco and Ginny both smirked, while Damien scowled. He and Umbridge turned and continued walking. The group quickly pressed back. Damien and Umbridge seemed ready to pass them, but then Ginny reached back to brace herself on the wall and a bit of stone crumbled and fell, creating small little thuds.

Damien stopped, cocking his head to the side, eyes narrowed. Ginny winced, her heart jumping into her throat. Her first instinct was to shout 'Sorry!' which thankfully, she did not do. However, it hardly mattered, because Damien clearly heard it. Bypassing Umbridge, he moved closer to the suits of armor, his lips pressed tight.

Ginny's eyes widened. He was going to find them. Sweat poured from every part of her, and fear lanced her heart. George and Draco both winced, pulling back as far as they could.

Then Ben burst forth, stumbling right in front of Damien and startling him.

"Watch it, hole it!" he shouted, a broom suddenly in his hand. Ginny's eyes grew even wider as she saw – not Ben – but Filch right in front of them, crouched low and shuffling, muttering to himself as he pushed the broom back and forth. "Tryin' to clear here!" he barked at Damien, who had jumped at his sudden appearance.

Damien relaxed, scowling deeply. "What were you doing back there, you filthy squib?" Umbrudge tutt'ed in disapproval.

"Let him do his job, Damien. No need to bother him."

"He's always doing this," hissed Damien, clearly irritated. "Lurking about!"

"Jus' tryin' to clean, sir," said Ben in a perfect imitation of Filch, and Ginny, George and Draco all looked at one another, lips parted in disbelief. Blanca kept her place, wand raised, though a small grim smirk was on her features.

Ben shuffled about, continuing to mutter and curse even as Damien rolled his eyes and turned away sharply. "The next time I find you hiding away in the shadows," said Damien, "I'll put you out on the streets like you deserve." With that, he turned and marched off with Umbridge, even as Ben kept sweeping and cursing about children and filth.

As soon as the other two were gone, Filch's features melted away and he straightened just as Ben's handsome young face made its reappearance. He raised both brows at the group, as if to say, well, what're you waiting for?

"Let's go," said Blanca, pulling the others along. Together, the group began to go back to the statue. Unfortunately, as they came to the corridor leading to their escape, the group was forced to halt at the appearance of a malevolent floating figure.

"Ehehehe," cackled Peeves, floating near the statue. When he twisted in mid-air to look at them, his translucent features lit up with delight. "Ooh," he said. "Lookee who's being sneaky…"

"Peeves…" said George, holding up his hands. "Please – "

"INTRUDERS! INTRUDERS IN THE CORRIDOR!"

Then, with a sweep of Peeves' hand, all the lights in the corridor burst and glass shattered everywhere. Thundering footsteps echoed down the opposite end of the corridor, and Blanca cursed. "Go back, go back!" They were too far from the statue to make it in time, so the group turned and ran full-speed. "Get us out of here, Weasley!"

"Uh – uh – " George grunted as he ran, mind racing.

"How can we get back to Hogsmeade?" hissed Blanca. "Weasley!"

"The Shrieking Shack!" George said suddenly, before hitting the brakes and turning in the opposite direction. Within moments, the group raced out onto the grounds and the cool night air hit them like a brick wall. George waved them on. "We can follow the tree line of the forest to give us cover," he told them breathlessly, and together, the group moved across the moonlit grounds, past courtyards and over unkempt gardens, until they came to the Forbidden Forest and ducked into the cover of the darkly spindly trees.

Inside the castle, Damien and Umbridge appeared in front of Peeves, who was still floating near the statue. Other newly-appointed professors appeared behind them, wands raised. "Where are they?" said Damien, before Umbridge could, and she made a face at him. "Where are the intruders?"

Peeves tapped his chin. "Well," he said, "they were right here." He pointed at the floor.

Damien scowled. "And where are they now?"

"How should I know?" Peeves asked coyly. "I can't be everywhere at once, can I? Nope, I'm just little old Peeves-ey…"

Umbridge stepped forward and held up her wand. "I demand you tell us who was here and where they went! Now!"

Peeves' eyes narrowed on Umbridge, and a curling grin took over his features as he dropped to hover right in front of them. "Demand… you say?" He squinted very closely at her, and Umbridge took a step back, though she lifted her chin and tried very hard to look him in his unsettling eyes.

"Tell us!" snapped Damien. "Now!"

"Fine," said Peeves, as if suddenly contrite. "They went that way." He pointed.

Scowling, Damien shoved past the poltergeist and the other professors, and he and Umbridge marched to the doors to the West Wing and ripped them open, only to stare in a split-second of horror before an entire room's worth of water came rushing down on all of them, washing the entire group down the hallway and launching some of the professors off the stairs in a river of dirty water.

"Whoopsie," said Peeves, floating off. "Guess someone left the sink on!"

Outside, under the cool dark sky, Draco and Ginny creeped next to one another, falling in and out of the shadows created by the twisting branches of the Forbidden Forest. Wind rustled the leaves and pushed them around their ankles, tugging at their robes like tiny insistent hands. The castle seemed quiet, and no one had come out yet looking for them, but they could not risk going out into the open until they absolutely had to.

"Not too much further," George assured them. "The entrance is at the base of the Whomping Willow."

They continued, leaves crunching underfoot. The occasional snapping twig sounded to Draco like the clanging of a bell at high noon. Around them, owls hooted, heads twisted much like Peeves' had been. At the front, George continued to move, his wand in hand. "We're almost there," he said, glancing back at Blanca. "Just – "

"Weasley, stop!" hissed Blanca, but it was too late. George's foot swept through a smoky line close to the ground, which shimmered and then disappeared. George's eyes widened.

"What – " he started, but then a chilling howl split the air, long and menacing. Draco's breath caught in his throat.

"Fuck," said Blanca, before snatching Ginny's robes and hauling her forward. "Run! All of you! Go!"

The group raced off, feet pounding against the earthy underbrush. Behind them – or in front of them, it was hard to tell – the howl rang out again, closer this time, and Draco's chest hurt from fear as he recognized it, knew what it was – a werewolf. They picked up speed, dashing in a full sprint through the dark forest, dodging low-hanging limbs, spider webs and high roots.

"I see it!" said Alec, pointing to their left, and for a split-second, Draco managed to look to the side and see a pair of glowing yellow eyes and narrow black slits. In a flash, Alec fired off a spell, but the thundering footfalls of the unseen creature did not fade away, but instead grew more intense, louder and visceral and heavy.

"Everte Statum!" exclaimed Alec, and the spell hit a tree, blasting straight through its center, but the eyes did not stop, and now there was grunting, the snapping of jaws. Ginny glanced to the side and gasped the flash of sharp white teeth she saw, gnashing at the air.

"Confringo!" Blanca shouted, blasting another tree, this one which was large and heavy and fell over in the direction of the predatory creature with a great crash. For a moment, the eyes disappeared, and the footsteps faded. "I think I got it!" she told them breathlessly, before slamming her heels into the earth to find everyone else had stopped at an opening in the forest floor. "Why the hell did you stop?" she growled, before looking around, her lips parted.

They had run straight into a clearing filled with cages, tall and iron and covered with deep claw marks and blood. A dozen enclosures, perhaps more, and they were all – to Draco's horror – open and empty.

Another howl sounded, and then more joined it, a cacophony of soul-shattering terror.

"SHIT!" Blanca shoved them all forward. Behind them, more menacing eyes had appeared, and now the chorus of howls was near-constant as the massive beasts raced towards them, ripping apart trees and cutting up the dirt with their large claws as they raced for them. "GO!" Blanca told them. Draco grabbed Ginny's hand and yanked her forward even as the feral snarling behind them came closer, ringing in their ears.

Draco and Ginny ran full-speed, chests heaving, bodies pumping even as Blanca stayed where she was, determined eyes set on the oncoming hoard of beasts. "What about Blanca?" shouted Ginny in a panic to Draco, but he only tugged her forward. Behind them, Blanca stayed her ground, her wand waving in a large circle as she continued to mutter spell after spell, her eyes intense.

The werewolves raced at her, closer by the second, as Blanca's spell began to appear in the air in the form of a great crackling lightning storm, jumping from the tip of her wand even as it built, built further, and then, just as the werewolves leaped at her, Blanca slammed her wand to the ground and lifted the spell up, so that a massive wall of magical lightning jumped from the earth to the tops of the trees.

The werewolves slammed into the wall of lightning and shrieked, writhing in agony against the spell as it shocked them. The gruesome smell of magical energy burning against flesh filled the air.

Ginny looked back and saw this, even as she ran as fast as she could, barely managing to avoid falling off the underbrush and roots. Without warning, a werewolf sprang at the pair from the side, and Ginny and Draco were forced apart as they fell and rolled on the forest floor. Draco hit the ground hard on his shoulder, and he barely rolled out of the way before a claw slammed into the ground where he'd been only seconds before. Scrambling, he ducked under a fallen tree just as the werewolf snapped at his head with massive jaws.

Breathless, Draco wedged himself under the log even as the snarling werewolf dug furiously at the earth, trying to get at him. With every passing second, it grew closer, and Draco felt the heat of its mouth as it panted right at him, its twitching black nose close as it sniffed at him.

Fuck, thought Draco, trying to move his arm to pull out his wand, but there was no room, and all he could think of was Ginny, and Merlin, had it gotten her? The thought made his heart hurt, and he reached up to touch his chest, only to find the little paper bird Maggie had made for him. As Draco pulled it out of his robes, it quickly fluttered to life in his hand, shifting its wings and then dropping out of his hand so that it flew, with its little paper wings, at the opening the werewolf was clawing at.

Popping out of the hole, the little paper bird pecked mercilessly at the werewolf's head, and it snapped back to swat angrily at the paper bird. The furious little bird did not give up, though, and it constantly flew at the werewolf's head until the werewolf had jumped up and clamped its jaws over the bird, swallowing it whole.

But by then, Draco had his wand, and as the werewolf turned to him again, Draco's furious curse blasted it into a tree. A sudden force knocked into Draco, and he turned, seeing it was Ginny who had run into him. "DRACO!" she threw her arms around him, but they had only a moment before Ben, George and Alec appeared again, grabbing them and pulling them into a run again.

Suddenly, the group burst forth from the forest, racing full-speed in the direction of the Whomping Willow with George still at the front and Alec and Ben behind him. Ginny felt like her lungs were on fire and her limbs were aching, but before she could speak out or collapse, the trees rustled angrily and out of the forest pounced a trio of snarling werewolves. The group skidded to a halt, chests heaving, as the massive lupine creatures turned their salivating jaws in their direction. The feral beasts stood between the group and the Whomping Willow.

With a sudden burst of movement, the werewolves raced towards them, and Alec and George both fired off spells as the others turned and ran, ran across the great empty moonlit space outside of Hogwarts, even as the werewolves picked up speed.

"How is this even possible?" shouted George as he ran, robes billowing. "The moon isn't even full!"

"Just keep running!" shouted Alec, firing off more spells over his shoulder.

Just then, Blanca jumped through the foliage at the side and joined them, eyes blazing as she cast a wave of fire at the group of werewolves. One of the beasts caught flame and fell to the grass, crying out, but the others moved around him and raced on, snapping their jaws and swiping out with razor-sharp claws.

The group flew across the grounds once more, feet pounding against the grass as they raced in the direction of the lake. More werewolves sprang forward from the forest, appearing at their sides, and Ginny screamed as one of them jumped at her and narrowly missed grabbing her shoulder. Another beast gained space on them from behind, and before anyone knew what was happening, it jumped at George and snatched him to the ground.

Ginny whirled around to see the werewolf dragging George in the direction of the forest. "NO!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, but before she could do anything, Alec turned and saw George. Without hesitation, he sprinted in the other wizard's direction, jumped at the werewolf, and in mid-leap, he transformed from a human into a massive tiger and ripped the werewolf off George, who shouted and covered his head.

The werewolf and the tiger instantly tangled in a furious fight, blood and fur mixing with grass as they rolled and yowled on the earth. Shrieking howls and snarling roars punctuated every bite, every kick, and then the tiger sank his jaws into the throat of the werewolf and ripped it away, flesh and blood coating his face and jaws.

Draco and Ginny snatched up George and hauled him to his feet, and Blanca and Ben stepped forward, firing off hexes as yet more werewolves started to catch up to them, they were so fast, Ginny thought wildly. The tiger spit out the flesh and looked first to Blanca, then to the approaching group of werewolves.

With one last nod in their direction, the tiger sped off in the direction of the werewolves.

"ALEC!" shouted Ben in alarm, but in mere seconds, the tiger had jumped into the hoard of werewolves and began snapping its jaws, thrashing the werewolves with its claws and dragging them down, anything to slow them.

"Take them and go!" shouted Blanca to Ben, and Ben grabbed up the others before running again, even as they all fought against exhaustion. Blanca stayed behind and fired into the werewolves who were quickly overwhelming the tiger, but some of them broke loose and sprinted for her, and Blanca unfurled one last hateful curse at them just as one of the werewolves managed to grab the tiger's head and, with one vicious twist, snap his neck. The other werewolves descended on his body then, and Blanca let out a howl of rage before she was forced to turn and run again.

Once more dashing across the grass and running as fast as they could go with no hope of outlasting the werewolves, the five remaining witches and wizards cut across the grounds with the beasts behind them steadily gaining speed and space.

"What're we going to do?" shouted Ginny to Blanca, tears blinding her.

Blanca looked ahead, hair whipping around her face. The Black Lake spread out before them, flat and dark. "SINGLE FILE!" she called to the group. "BEHIND ME!" Without slowing her run, Blanca waved her wand at the lake. "Semita!" Then she ran straight out onto the lake as if walking an invisible path on the water's surface. The group fled onto the lake, small silhouettes against the large moon sitting behind the water's banks.

Ginny followed directly behind Blanca, with Draco, George and Ben behind them just as the nearest werewolf attempted to snatch Ben with its jaws. However, the werewolves came to an abrupt halt at the edge of the lake, and the narrow path the group ran led them to its center, where they all stopped, heaving as they bent over their knees and fought the urge to collapse.

The werewolves howled and came to a stop at the water's edge, but they did not leave, instead pacing tirelessly on the edge and snapping their jaws as the witches and wizards watched in fear. Looking all around them, Draco's dread took on new levels as the werewolves grew in number – there seemed to be fifteen or twenty of them now, where had they all come from? Had they all been crammed into those cages?

Just then, one of the lupine creatures jumped into the water with a guttural snarl and began to swim towards them. Emboldened, others began to do the same. The group stood trapped at the center of the lake on an invisible path, and the werewolves were swimming towards them, no longer afraid of the water.

Blanca met their snarl with an enraged sound of her own, and she and the others began throwing curses at the swimming werewolves. Still, the werewolves were alarmingly fast, and they dodged them, coming closer and closer until the first one had reached their path and George barely managed to curse it back into the water before it could snatch him off the path and drag him below. They fought them off one-by-one, but more were arriving, and Ginny sucked in a high-pitched breath, something like a sob, as she looked over at Blanca and saw true panic begin to form in the American witch's face.

Draco and Ginny looked at each other as the splashing and snarling grew closer, and they reached out at the same time to take one another's hands, even as a tear slipped down Ginny's cheek. "I'm sorry," she whispered to Draco.

Four werewolves appeared in front of them and reached out with bloody jaws and claws.

That was when the lake erupted, water flying straight up from the surface and into the air, causing the witches and wizards to scream and duck as water rained down on them from above. Enormous tentacles leaped from the water, curling over the lake's surface before slamming down on the werewolves, snatching them around their middles and dragging them below the water in a great confusing mix of splashing and grappling.

"FUCK!" shouted Blanca, her arms over her soaked head as the tentacles snatched up the nearest werewolf to her and hurled it through the air, slamming it into a nearby tree. Other tentacles jumped up, snapping the spine of a werewolf near George and tossing it into the water, where grindylows appeared and pulled it down with vicious little noises. Yet another werewolf howled in misery as menacing mermaids jumped onto its back and sank their sharp teeth into its neck, dragging it below as they ripped at its flesh. Each lupine creature in the water fought against the tentacles, but each lost, disappearing in a bubble of blood and claws.

Ginny jumped back as one werewolf desperately tried to grab onto the invisible path, and for a moment, its face flickered and shifted into a near-human form, calling out for help. Horror seized Ginny's heart as she recognized it as the man from Diagon Alley, the one who had been seized on the street by the Ministry. She started to reach out to him, but the mermaids appeared and ruthlessly snatched him below the water's surface.

The last of the tentacles grabbed werewolves by the ankles and necks, pulling them below as they began to wind and disappear, giving one last curl in the direction of the group as if waving goodbye. Then the last tentacle slipped beneath the surface of the lake, and after a few seconds, the water was smooth and unbothered, as if nothing had happened there at all.

No hint of the werewolves remained.

Panting heavily, the witches and wizards slowly straightened from their crouches. A few feet in front of them, one mermaid hovered near the surface, only her serpentine eyes visible. She blinked, showed a flash of teeth and then dipped below again, disappearing.

Without looking at Blanca, Ben asked, shaking, "Alec?"

Blanca swallowed hard and shook her head. "Come on," she said, turning and hurrying down the narrow path, off the lake. She sent them all ahead to the Whomping Willow, disappearing for a few minutes before she returned with an extra wand close to her chest. Jaw set, she jerked her head. "Hurry up!"

The group finally made it to the Whomping Willow, which twisted its menacing branches in their direction, but shockingly, it did not attack them. Instead, it brought its thick limbs around the group with an aged groan, as if to further shield them. They ducked into the tunnel and fled Hogwarts' grounds.

Near the castle, Damien and Umbridge emerged, only freshly recovered from their incident with Peeves. Filch shuffled behind them, his features pinched.

"Someone set off the traps," said Damien lowly. "I heard screaming. I know I did."

"Mm," said Filch. "Probably one of them Muggles from the town wandered too close again. Bloody mess when the last ones came 'round."

Scowling, Damien's eyes scoured the grounds. However, he could see only the calm, cool lake and the lesser-used courtyards nearby. If he'd wandered closer to the Forbidden Forest, he might've noticed the blood stain that started near the lake and then led to the forest, as if a carcass had been dragged into the shrouded mist there.

But there were werewolves about, Damien knew, and he did not care to investigate in the dark while they were roaming. "Find the disgusting creatures and get them back into their cages," he ordered Filch with a sneer. "Perhaps this time you'll lose a head, instead of just a finger."

Filch grunted, and Damien turned back inside, suspicious and wary.


The five remaining witches and wizards made it back to Slughorn and McGonagall. Without a word, they left Hogsmeade and absconded to Steep Park House, where they entered in the very early hours of the morning, morose and shaken.

Careful not to wake anyone, the group stopped at the door. Blanca looked to Ginny and Draco, her features hard. She still held two wands in her hand. One of them was coated with blood.

"So you got what you need," she said tonelessly to Draco.

He had trouble meeting her gaze. "Yes. I can use this to find Muggleborns… The Dark Lord will think I am doing so for him, but secretly, we will be transporting them to safety."

"And how are you going to manage that?" asked Blanca coolly.

Draco paused. "I have a plan." He hesitated again. "It will work," he said with more confidence than he felt.

"Good," said Blanca, as Ben stared blankly at the condensation on the window. Blanca tucked both of the wands into the pockets of her robes. "Because if you fail, then that means one of my people died for nothing." She shifted away from them. "Now if you guys are done, I have to talk to my Aurors."

Without another word, Blanca turned and left, with Ben going behind her, not looking at any of them.

Unable to stand on their feet any longer, the other three sank into chairs in the abnormally quiet dining room. No one spoke. No one comforted one another.

They simply sat, with only a dim lamp in the center of the table to illuminate the room.