A/N: Hi, everyone! Another week passed and here we are, approaching the end of Athena's fifth year, as well as the ending of 2020. Two more months to go, guys. I cannot believe how bizarre, chaotic and gloomy this year has been. Thank goodness I had this story – and you guys – to keep me sane. By the way, I wanna thank all the sweet messages and reviews, as well as the new readers and followers. I honestly hope you enjoy today's chapter! As you already know, any comments, critiques or concerns, feel free to contact me.


Chapter Twenty-Five - Going Under

When everything's lost, they pick up their hearts and avenge defeat

Before it all starts, they suffer through hard just to touch a dream

Oh, pick yourself up, 'cause

Legends never die*


Black is for protection.

I keep repeating these four words while softly running my fingertips over the satin ribbon around my wrist. Every step towards Rakepick's office is a warning. A warning that tells me that things will end up well and bad at the same time. A warning to keep attentive, to be cautious and remain strong. A warning that whispers that I might not like what the Vault holds.

"We can do it," I say, trying to convince myself more than my friends, who confidently walk with me along the bright corridors.

The sunny Saturday nothing denotes and the chirping of the birds and excited laughter by the lake waters give me a pinch of courage and inspiration. There are groups playing in the gardens and trying to feed the Giant Squid. The day is so bright and beautiful that it provides me with a giant dose of hope.

In the end, the sun will rise again.

Brushing against the skin of my hands, the strings of the black ribbon provide the confidence that I need. If anything goes wrong, all I need to do is rip it off and Professor Snape will be summoned to where we are.

Rakepick might think we're at her mercy.

But she's wrong.

Very incorrect.

She probably thinks she managed to turn me into a shadow of what she is: someone willing to stab friends in the back and play a part worthy of a Tony Award. Well, she thinks she's playing an incredible part, fooling us into thinking she's this kind-hearted Curse Breaker that genuinely cares about the castle's safety.

But we're no fools. The mask of virtue covering her face has fallen from the moment she stepped foot into this school. The posture of a great witch that holds a mysterious knowledge has never tricked me into believing she could teach me anything worthwhile.

She's dangerous and we all know it. Even Merula, who was so willing to believe her every word and follow in her footsteps, is walking beside me when her hand firmly wrapped around her wand. She knows the dangers that wait for us and she's willing to fight them. Even if these dangers are the very mentor she promised to follow.

The door of Rakepick's classroom is closed but unlocked. We enter the familiar room that has been replaced by many professors over the years, every time changing atmosphere and aesthetic, and walk towards the circular stone staircase that leads to her office. This time, the door is ajar, sending shivers down our spines as we enter the candle lit place.

Black, blue and purple candles greet us, and I feel like we're stepping into some sort of ritual. Casually sitting on the edge of her desk, Rakepick is waiting for us, wand in hand and the magical portrait on the other. Her red lips instantly curl in a smile that is different than every other I've seen.

Rita Skeeter's red lips? Pure malice and secrecy.

Rakepick's? Danger beyond measure.

I feel the urge to rip off the black ribbon at that instant, but I know it wouldn't be wise. There are places we need to go before, risks we need to take and dangers we need to face. Despite knowing this is something I need to do without him, I confess that having Professor Snape with me would bring me deep comfort. Yet, I'm aware that I can't rely on him forever.

"Perfect," Rakepick says, pleased. "Eleven friends, Athena. I admit that I'm truly impressed. Not even I have been able to gather such loyal group when I was in school, even though we are very much alike, and I was also very popular."

Next to me, Rowan's face twists into an expression of someone that has just tasted a lemon, but I know she's just trying not to laugh. She looks away, pretending to be interested by a diamond incrusted skull and coughs softly to disguise her chuckles.

"Are you all aware of the risks that wait for us?" Rakepick asks. "Though I won't let anything happen to any of you, rest assured that the jeopardy is immense. Keep your eyes open and your wands in hand all times."

I nod, noticing that my friends are doing the same. I swallow hard when Rakepick steps closer to us, extending the portrait parallel to the ground, as an offering.

"Step in a circle," she says. "Now, in order to be transported into the Vault, everyone must be holding the portrait. Understood? Very well. Hold it now."

I reach out, filling the circle of thirteen hands that are holding the frame. Instantly, the most displeasing sensation feels the room. Unlike Floo Powder that is itchy and annoying, the feeling of being transported via Portkey is utterly nauseating. We spin around in a black void, as if we're part of a tornado, fast and woefully, and I have to contain myself not to throw up. I close my eyes to hold the dizziness, but it's no use. Close to me, I hear Ismelda screaming and the distinctive sound of someone that is about to vomit.

I hit the ground heavily, feeling my back hitting a cold stone floor and the pain of the impact being transported throughout my body. I open my eyes, breathing deeply to dissipate the dizziness, and, little by little, stand up.

A few meters away from me, Liz is tossing her cookies. Barnaby offers her a handkerchief and she slowly gets up, looking very green. Gradually, all of my friends get on their feet, brushing the dirt from their clothes and holding their wands in expectancy.

The room we're standing in looks ordinary in comparison to the other ones we've seen in the castle. Overall, it looks like another artifact room, but a lot more organized. The room is entirely made of stone and the torches are burning brightly on the walls. There are suits of armour covered with white blankets, big vases on the corners and tables covered by mortal and pestles, jars of ingredients and pieces of parchment. Near a pillar, a big silver chest is wide open, showing the red satin fabric pouring from it. There are portraits leaning against the wall, some of them covered in spider web. In one of the walls, a long table is covered by yellow candles. On the opposite, a portrait of tall imponent wooden door that lies shut calls our attention.

"Is this the Vault?" Bill asks, looking around.

"Unlikely," Rakepick says. "This is probably an anterior chamber. There must be an entering to the actual Vault."

"Do you think this door leads somewhere?" Ben asks, stepping closer to the portrait.

"Perhaps," Merula says, walking to him. "The current curse has been referent to portraits, after all."

"Should we knock?" he asks. "Alohomora it?"

"We can test it," Rakepick says, simply.

Taking a deep breath, looking uncommonly courageous, Ben reaches out and knocks three times on the canvas, producing a sound similar to someone knocking on wood. He releases an exasperated sigh, stepping back as we watch if something is even going to happen. For a while, all is silent.

"Well, I think Alohomora it is," he says, when a sudden ear-piercing growl fills the room, and he steps back a few more times, hesitant and scared, hitting his lower back against a table. "Oh, my…"

From the golden skies painted behind the door, something large flies towards us, gradually getting bigger, and as it moves closer, we can clearly see a pair of green wings and big angry eyes.

"A Hungarian Horntail!" Charlie shouts, excitedly. "Yay!"

"Yay?" Rowan says, perplexed. "Are you insane?"

The dragon lands heavily in front of the door, slowly stepping outside of the frame, producing loud noises and intense huffing as he enters the room, almost touching the ceiling. We cluster against the table, our hearts pounding loudly inside our chests, as the dragon opens his gigantic mouth and releases a terrifying roar. The many sharp teeth glisten menacing under the candle lights and the breath that emanates from him is putrid, like a thousand rotting corpses inside an abandoned well. I gulp, tightening the grip around my wand's handle to contain my shaking hands.

You can do it, Athena.

My eyes widen. Inside my head, Jake's voice seems clearer and louder. Somehow, I can almost feel his hand, comforting and encouraging, landing on my shoulder. I take a deep breath, holding the imaginary hand of his while stepping forward.

"We can do this," I say, confident. "On three! One… Two… Three!"

"STUPEFY!"

Thirteen jolts of light hit the dragon mid roar. Clouds of smoke escape his nostrils as he flashes us an angry stare. I gulp, wondering if the combo of spells didn't work, when his eyes roll into his skull and he falls heavily onto the stone floor, launching dust into the air.

"Merlin's beard!" Rowan gasps, clapping. "We did it! We defeated a dragon! This is definitively going into my resumé."

Charlie, with a mixture of concern and guilt on his face, walks softly towards the fallen dragon, kneeling next to it. He lifts his hand to run his fingers along one of the wings, looking terribly sad. "I've never been up close to one like this… Poor thing. It looks so old and scarred… How can the Vaults be this evil? Trapping a precious creature like this one…"

"Worry about the dragon later, Charlie," Bill advises. "Is everyone all right?"

"I am," Ben says. "Though I nearly had a heart attack."

"Was the dragon a guardian?" Penny asks. "Why does the door remain closed?"

I'm here, Munchkin.

Just open the door.

"How?" I whisper, walking slowly towards the portrait. Unlike Ben, instead of knocking, I rest my fingertips softly against the solid canvas, releasing a gentle sigh and closing my eyes.

Images from my brother flood my mind. Images of us running over grassy fields, singing along to the melodies on his guitar, chasing Bowtruckles in the woods in Lockhart Gardens… A smile takes over my lips as the feeling of safety and love fills my every cell.

"Jake… Open the door," I whisper to the silence.

A creaking sound takes over the room. I open my eyes, seeing the painted wooden door slowly opening, revealing a pitch-black interior.

"Brilliant!" Bill says, excited.

"We can chat about Athena's amazingness later," Merula says, hasty. "Let's go in!"

I hold my wand tightly, taking a step towards the painting. An explosion of energy hits me right on the chest before I can walk closer, pushing me back with tremendous force. My back hits the wall on the opposite side, launching bolts of pain all over my spine. I inhale a painful amount of air, looking around to see my friends in the same deplorable state. Barnaby even fell in a pile of old artifacts and there's a bleeding cut on his cheek.

"What happened?" Rowan pants.

"I don't k-"

My words are interrupted by a sudden shaking of the room. It shakes and trembles so violently that dust and tiny spiders start to fall from the ceiling, running desperate when pieces of stone begin to fall onto the floor. I roll to the side just in time to avoid a stone the size of watermelon.

One after the other, stones fall from the ceiling, hitting the ground dangerously close to us. Bill has to jump to avoid another one that hits the table heavily, breaking it in two.

"Arresto Momentum!" Ben shouts, decreasing the speed of the stones until they descend slowly and softly.

There are stones covering the floor, some of them even creating walls separating us from the opposite side of the room. Merula stands up and checks the ragged cuts on her pants and the blood on knees from falling over a pile of rough rocks. Rowan wipes her dusty and bruised hands on her jeans, noticing little drops of blood forming on her skin.

"Athie…" she says, nervous. "What happened?"

I look around, desperate. "I… I don't know."

I stand up, climbing some bigger stones, and hearing my friends doing the same. A few of them roll to the side when I touch them, and it takes a bit of effort to reach the portrait again.

I swallow a dry and very much anticipated gulp when my feet hit clear ground again, and I see Rakepick standing imposingly in front of the portrait. Upon her red lips, her grin looks even more threatening than before. "None of you are getting in," she says, simply. "I was here first."

"Madam Rakepick!" Merula gasps.

"But we all entered together!" Charlie protests.

Rakepick throws her head back, releasing a loud guffaw. "You are too damn innocent. Of course, I've been here before," she says, flashing me a pair of burning eyes. "With Jacob."

I clench my jaw. "You are the reason why he disappeared."

Her smile widens. "The three of us weren't enough to defeat the dragon. We'd have been five if Duncan hadn't blown himself up and Olivia hadn't got herself expelled. And Peter… Peter fled the second he saw the dragon. Disgusting coward… Left Jacob and I to rot."

I close my hands into fists. "My brother isn't…"

She smirks. "No. He isn't dead. He locked himself inside that goddamn Vault before I was able to stop him, but I couldn't do the same. That's why I needed you. There's something in your blood…"

"What about the rest of us?" Merula inquires.

Rakepick laughs. "The rest of you curse-breakers? Collateral damage, I'm afraid. Entirely expandable to me."

"So, you just left my brother trapped in there this entire time?" I ask angrily, pointing to the portrait.

"I had no choice," she says, calmly. "I touched the portrait, but it only transported me back to the Forbidden Forest. But don't you worry. I won't provide you the same fate. You've outlived your usefulness, anyway."

She aims her wand at me, smirking menacingly, but before she can whisper any spell, a bolt of white light hits her on the stomach. I look back. Standing right behind her, Merula has her wand pointed directly at Rakepick.

She spits on the ground, catching her breath. "Foolish child," Rakepick hisses, sending a wave of energy that wraps around Merula's body and tosses her against the wall like a ragdoll. Spitting blood, Merula manages to stand again. The blood on her knees is soaking the legs of her jeans. "You never know when to give up. The most powerful witch in school… HA! Let's see if you're powerful against this! Crucio!"

A loud and painful scream escapes Merula's lips as soon as the curse is intonated. She falls onto her knees, dropping heavily on her side as she shakes violently, her eyes rolling and then closing as her mouth opens wide in screams of tortured pain. Tears fall from her eyes, staining the stone floor under her head.

"NO!" Ben yells, rushing to her, kneeling by her side. "STOP IT! STOP HURTING HER!"

"Weren't you the one who wanted to learn how to cast an Unforgivable Curse, Miss Snyde?" Rakepick teases. "How does it feel to be under one?"

I raise my wand towards Rakepick as everyone else follows me. She widens her eyes in surprise, though the smirk doesn't leave her lips.

"You aren't strong enough to fight me," she sibilates.

"Yeah?" I hiss. "Try me."

Before I'm able to cast a spell, a strange laugh fills the room. I look to the side, watching Rowan laughing evilly, walking away from me with her wand aimed at my face. "You're such a fool, Athena… You really believed Rakepick was R? I've been standing by your side all this time… Patiently waiting for my chance… The chance to prove who was the real brain behind it all. Not Rakepick… Not the Cabal… But me!"

"Rowan!" I gasp in surprise. "What are you saying?"

She grins wickedly. "That this is the truth, Athie. I am R."

I swallow hard, taking a step back, watching Rakepick's face twist into a confused expression. She looks at Rowan, trying to comprehend what she's saying.

"This isn't-"

"Confringo!" shout, sending a bolt of light towards her.

Rakepick barely manages to shield herself and spell after spell is launched from around me, hitting the fainting protection spell her casted around herself.

"Expelliarmus!" Rowan casts, sending Rakepick's wand into the air and making it fall under the broken table. Rakepick's eyes widen in desperation as she makes mention to grab it back.

"This is your end, Rakepick," I hiss.

"This isn't over yet, Lockhart," she says, angrily, taking her hand to the brooch on her coat and squeezing it in her palm.

In a swirl of energy, she disappears.

"NO!" I shout, running the place she was once standing. "THAT RANCID BITCH! She can't get away with this! I swear to God, when I get my hands on that tramp, I'm going to cut her!"

"Of course, she wouldn't stay and fight," Rowan says, placing her wand in her pocket. "She's a spiteful twit. What did you expect?"

"You are an amazing actress, Row," I say, recovering my grip as she walks to me. "Thank you for doing it."

"I had the opportunity of seeing her in utter disbelief," she says, cheerfully. "Thank you, Athie."

A desperate cry makes us turn around. Ben, with tears running from his brownish eyes, looks from us to Merula in complete desperation. "Mer!" He shouts over her unconscious body. "Mer! Wake up! Why isn't she waking up?"

Penny kneels beside him, taking two fingers to Merula's wrist. "She's alive. The curse just knocked her out."

"Just?" Ben moans, cradling Merula's body on his arms. "Why is Rakepick always hurting her?"

Tonks frowns, placing her hands on her hips. "Why do you care?"

"'Cause I'm in love with her!" Ben cries. "I've been madly in love with her for years!"

I gape, flabbergasted. "This explains a lot…" I whisper to myself.

"Oh my God!" Rowan gasps, her jaw dropping. "Why?"

Ben lands his forehead against Merula's. "I… I don't know… I just… I just know she's all my heart ever wanted."

"Ben, she'll be okay," Penny says, worried, landing a hand on his shoulder. "Let's just enter the Vault and we'll be out of here in a second. And then Madam Pomfrey can heal her, and she'll be just fine."

He nods, drying the tears from his cheeks and grabbing Merula in his arms as if she weights nothing. "I'm ready."

We head to the portrait, taking a deep breath before stepping into the dark. The blackness engulfs us for just a second, for we soon step into a circular room. We are instantly greeted by torches of green light and by the equally shaped column that was present in every other Vault, that is now glowing in shades of yellow and orange. All around us, still portraits look at us with dead eyes.

All of them.

Except one.

"ATHENA!" my brother shouts, resting his hands against the canvas in front of him.

I lose my voice inside of me.

It's you…

Jacob…

I walk blindly at him, feeling tear after tear fall down my cheeks as I reach out, feeling the texturized canvas against my palm.

"Jake…"

My eyes widen in shock and happiness when his fingers leave the painting, intertwining with mine as he steps outside of the painting, landing softly on the ground in front of me.

"Jake…" I whisper, instantly wrapping my arms around him.

It's him. His scent. His warmth. His voice.

It's really him.

"We did it," I cry against his chest, but not sobbing like I thought I'd do. Warm tears fall softly, and my voice gets chocked by the joy. "We found you. Oh my God, Jake… I'm sorry it took so long…"

"It's okay," he says, holding me tightly, the sweetness of his voice filling my mind in pure happiness. "Oh, Munchkin… I thought I'd never see you again."

I release him lightly, holding his face in between my hands. He looks exactly like the boy who left us amidst a thunderstorm five years ago. Nothing changed. Not an inch of longer hair… Not a sign of aging… His eyes remain brightly blue and his messy blonde hair are just as I remember. He's even wearing the same jacket and jeans.

"How did you find me?" he asks, kindly.

I grin softly. "I followed your voice."

He smiles lovingly. "You are so grown, Munchkin…"

Another tear falls down my cheek. "And you… You look exactly the same."

"I don't think time passes inside the paintings," he says. "Though I'm supposed to be twenty… I don't think I am."

"Better than any fountain of youth," I chuckle, pulling him for another hug. "Oh, Jake… I missed you so much."

"Ew, what are you doing? Let me go!"

We turn around, watching Merula escape Ben's arms and stand up, brushing the dirt from her clothes. A little weak on the legs, she loses balance but makes it seem intentional, quickly straightening her back and trying to fix the mess of her hair. Ben's eyes, wide in happiness, crinkle on the corners when he smiles broadly, reaching out to hold Merula's face in between his palms and place a kiss upon her lips. This time, Merula's eyes are the ones to widen, in shock and surprise, and she lands her hands on his chest, pushing him away.

"What's wrong with you, Copper?" she growls, turning around and crossing her arms, her face growing increasingly red. "Who's this?" she asks, frowning at my brother.

Jake looks at me, opening a smile and wrapping his arm around my shoulders.

"Guys, I think it's finally time for me to introduce you," I say. "This is my brother, Jacob. Jacob, meet the guys."

Jake waves at them. "Hi, everyone."

"Athie, though I'd love to be all chummy and get to meet your brother, I think we'll have time for this later," Rowan says, staring at the column. "I think it's wiser for us to leave this place."

I nod. "You're right. This is Rowan, by the way," I tell Jake. "Very well. Let's see what this Vault has in store for us."

Jake accompanies me to the column. We reach out, landing our hands on the cold structure, watching it blossom like the others before it. Inside, floating in a sparkling blue mist, are a long golden trident and a portrait of Hogwarts.

"Oh, that's just perfect!" Ben says, exasperated. "We're facing Satan on the next Vault!"

I giggle, wrapping my hand around the cold trident. "I don't think this is a satanic trident, Ben."

"It's from a Merman," Liz adds, coming closer to inspect it. "Is the next Vault inside the Black Lake?"

I shrug. "God only knows. Thankfully, we have time to figure it out," I say, looking at Jake. "Together."

"Together, Munchkin," he says, smiling.

"And how do we get out of here?" Bill asks, looking around.

Jake shows him the portrait. "This is another Portkey. It's our way out of here."

"Where will it take us?" he asks.

Jake shrugs, eyeing me with amusement. "God only knows."


* Legends Never Die, by Against the Current.