Chapter 36 – Prophecy Unveiled

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Two Ravenclaw fifth-years were walking down the hall near the hospital wing, chatting about the Quidditch match.

"I can't believe Noel Potter still got the Snitch," one said.

"Yeah…I wonder what happened to James Potter and Maria Ravenwood. That's the second time they've both went down during matches."

"But their team still manages to win."

"Yeah…they're good…"

They continued walking just as an agonized scream echoed down the hall.

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"Make…it…stop!!!!!!!! Ahhhhhhhhrrrrggggg…!"

"Miss Ravenwood, please try to quiet down!"

"Make it stop, please!!"

Madame Pomfrey turned to Professors Dumbledore and O'Leary. "I don't know what's wrong, but it must be bad if she's screaming like that. I don't know if there's anything I can do for them."

Maria and James were lying in beds next to each other in the hospital wing. Maria was screaming and writhing, while James was trying to bear it stoically, though tears were threatening to stream from his eyes. Noel, Sirius, Remus, and Lily weren't allowed in, along with the rest of the team.

Headmaster O'Leary turned to Dumbledore. "What do you suppose? The time is drawing near?"

Dumbledore nodded. "He must know by now who possesses the pendants. It is only a matter of time before he tries to dispose of them."

"But why inside the heads of the Heirs of Gryffindor and Ravenclaw?"

Dumbledore looked grave. "Not just Heirs. Mr. Black's best friend and girlfriend, headmaster."

Professor O'Leary nodded suddenly. "It all makes sense now," he said slowly. "He will use them to get to the Heir of Slytherin. He will dispose of them once he has his Heir on his side."

Dumbledore said nothing.

Madame Pomfrey bit her lip and scooted over to James and Maria. "Can you tell me where it hurts?" She whispered.

James closed his eyes. When he opened them, they looked glassy. "Head." He gestured. "Voices. They say things…"

"Maria?"

She caught her breath to keep from screaming. "Buzzing. Like...ice picks…being driven…into my head…"

Dumbledore floated over, followed by the headmaster. He placed a hand on Maria's forehead, stroking back her hair as she whimpered. "Shhh," he soothed. "It will be alright, Miss Ravenwood…just wait it out for me, okay?"

Maria nodded, and her screams died down.

- - - - - - - - -

"We wanna see them! They're ours!" Sirius howled, his hands doubled up into fists.

"That may be, Mr. Black, but we cannot allow any outside contact near them for at least a day!" Madame Pomfrey said.

"But Madame Pomfrey, we need to know if they're alright!" Lily pleaded.

"I can assure you, they will be just fine – "

"Bollocks! We could hear my sister screaming all the way in the Gryffindor common room!" Remus yelled. Noel nodded.

"Mr. Lupin, I never heard such language out of you!"

They all turned as Professor McGonagall made her way toward them. "Ten points from Gryffindor, now go back to your common room! Mr. Potter and Miss Ravenwood are off limits!"

They all glared at her as they slunk away. Remus threw in a little howl for good measure.

"They've no right stopping us seeing them!" Sirius raged. "We'll just sneak in tonight with James's Invisibility Cloak! We'll do it in turns!"

"I'm going first." Remus said stubbornly.

"Me too." Lily added.

Noel and Sirius looked grouchy. "Fine." They said dully.

They stood in the corridor, scuffing their feet against the carpet.

"Well…come on…let's go finish Cheewa's essay." Lily muttered.

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"Mia, are you alright?" James whispered once the adults had left.

"It hurts, Jamie," came the soft reply.

"I know…" James sighed. He didn't know what had happened, but he knew that he was the cause of her pain. He slipped out of his bed and into hers. "Sorry," he said as he put an arm around her waist.

"S'not your fault, Jamie."

"But the charm – "

"We all knew what we were getting into."

James closed his eyes. "…it's because we're Heirs, isn't it?"

"Yeah."

"He wants us dead. Why, Mia? I know you know."

"…no, James, I really don't. My parents didn't tell me."

"Well, I bet the headmaster and Dumbledore know. Once we're better, we'll go ask them. Awight?"

"Kay." Maria opened her eyes. James's hair was tickling her face. She batted it away and snuggled into her blankets.

- - - - - - - -

"Ow, Lily…my foot…"

"Sorry, Remmie…"

Lily and Remus were under the Cloak, on their way to see Maria and James. It was well past midnight now. Noel and Sirius were still in the common room, under the pretense of doing homework.

"Hey, Lily…"

"Yeah?"

"What do you think happened to them?"

"I dunno…"

They continued in silence. When they reached the hospital wing, Remus twisted the knob. "Um…"

"What's the matter, Remus? Open the damn door!"

"It's locked…"

They looked at each other in confusion.

"They want to stop us seeing them…" Lily said softly. "Something must really be wrong."

They turned back to tell Noel and Sirius.

- - - - - - - -

"Headmaster, something must be done." Dumbledore said as he paced O'Leary's office.

"I know, Dumbledore, but what can we do? Send the children to their deaths? They're sixteen-years-old…."

"I'm not saying we need to hand them to him…" Dumbledore raked his hands through his hair in frustration. "Headmaster…!"

"I know, Dumbledore."

"Maybe the prophecy is wrong."

"It is certainly right. It was made by a gifted Seer, Cassandra Trelawny, a long time ago."

Dumbledore sighed. "May I hear it again?"

"Certainly…" Headmaster O'Leary gathered his Pensieve out of a cabinet and drew his wand through it.

"Years from now, the Wizarding World will see a darkness so terrible it will surely be the end. A Dark Lord on the rise, gathering followers and wreaking havoc. To stop him, we will be blessed with the Heirs of the Four Founders of Hogwarts. They will know friendship that will know no boundaries, as their forefathers and mothers did. Each will be identified by a colored pendant, but beware; should the pendant fall into the wrong hands, it will be destruction for the one to whom it belongs. And while they have the power, should they use it on the Dark Lord, it will surely take them down with him…"

"…it's…kind of…wordy, don't you think, Headmaster?" Dumbledore said hopefully. "Maybe it's wrong?"

O'Leary shook his head. "I don't think so, Dumbledore."

They sighed, sitting in silence.

After a while, a crunching sound could be heard. Headmaster O'Leary looked up at his fellow teacher.

"Hm? Oh. Lemon drop, Headmaster?"

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a/n: Hmm. Interesting. I was tryin' to draw fanart for this story…needless to say, I suck (in my opinion.). But if any of you lovely people are interested, would you email me )? I'd like to get some up.

Well, things are coming together…I'm not too good at prophecies. Eh.