Chapter 13:

End of Year

And then term had begun again, just like that. The professors dove right in and it wasn't long before Jessa, like most students, found herself underneath a pile of homework once more.

Whenever they could, she and Taryn worked together on the assignments. And when she needed help, she found Draco ready and willing to lend a hand.

The morning of the first quidditch match after break, Jessa headed down towards the Great Hall, hoping to catch Harry before the match.

She saw him talking with Ron and Hermione when he froze. She knew that look: something was wrong. She bolted over, grabbing his hand.

Let me rip…tear…KILL!

A strange voice filled her head. Jessa turned to her brother, frightened. He met her gaze.

"You heard it too, this time, didn't you?"

She nodded. "It's creepy. Is that what you've been hearing all year?"

He nodded. "And no, we don't know where it's coming from."

She shuddered. "I don't like this. But we can't deal with it now. You have a match to play," she pointed out.

He nodded, clearly still a bit dazed.

"Good luck," she wished him, separating as they continued towards the Gryffindor tower so they could change.

Meanwhile, she began heading towards the pitch.

"No 'good luck' for me?" a voice teased behind her as she exited the castle.

"Good luck to you too, Draco," she replied, rolling her brown eyes. Draco smirked, before going off towards the changing rooms. He was pleased to see she was still wearing the necklace he'd gifted her.

She hugged her robe a bit closer and took out a book. She tended to arrive early, in case one of the Slytherin players received a last minute detention or otherwise incapacitated themselves – wouldn't be the first time.

Not even fifteen minutes later, the team was filing out of the changing rooms again, disappointment and disgust read clear on their faces.

Placing her book in her bag and her bag on her shoulder, Jessa stood, hurrying to step in line with Draco's longer strides.

"What happened?

"The match's been cancelled. There's been another attack."

Jessa's eyes widened. "Really?"

He nodded. "We're all to report back to our respective common rooms immediately."

Once there, every student was informed they would now be escorted between classes by professors. They were never to travel alone.

"This is utter rubbish. It's not like any one of us has been attacked."

Jessa turned to look at the upperclassman. She disagreed, but knew not to say anything aloud.

Despite not being muggle-born herself, she was scared. Between being Harry Potter's sister, and the voice she'd heard, let alone a first year with almost no magical knowledge…she was terrified.

Jessa put her head in her hand as she glanced down at the open book on her desk. She blinked, the words swimming. She was tired from helping the Quidditch team run drills the night before, and having History of Magic last period of the day was not helping things.

A flash of red caught her eye and she looked to her right to see the only other red-head in class put her head down on the desk.

Odd.

It was clear the other girl was exhausted. What was worse – it wasn't the first time she'd witnessed Ginny Weasley looking half-asleep or dazed in class. It wasn't only in this class either – where the ghostly Professor often forgot about his students.

"When class is over, you go ahead. There's something I have to take care of," she whispered to Taryn, who shrugged, before going back to her Charms essay.

Jessa made the gruelling trek to the Gryffindor Common Room's entrance. She received more than one suspicious look or glare as she approached, standing close enough to catch passing students' attention, but far enough she wouldn't hear the password. Finally, one of the older students – who, she couldn't say – spoke to her.

"Can we help you with something?"

"I need to talk with Fred and George Weasley. Would you mind getting them for me?" she asked, trying not to be impatient.

The older boy's eyes narrowed, but when Jessa simply crossed her arms and leaned against the wall, making it clear she wasn't leaving, he nodded and disappeared behind the portrait.

She waited, trying to ignore the looks she received just for being there. The inter-house animosity between Gryffindor and Slytherin was…well, rather intense.

"Jessa? What's wrong?" a familiar voice asked, and she looked up, relieved to see the twins standing in front of her.

"I think something's wrong with Ginny."

They exchanged a look.

"I share classes with her every day, remember? She's exhausted, falling asleep in class…and not just History of Magic. Her hair is tangled, her eyes almost always look red. I just thought someone should know. I – I'm sorry I didn't say anything sooner. But it's gotten much worse recently."

"Thank you," Fred said. After a pause, George jumped in.

"How are you doing?"

She shrugged. "I'm okay. Overwhelmed, a bit spooked by the attacks, but okay. Thanks."

Jessa smiled a bit awkwardly and turned to leave. It looked like they still weren't quite sure what to make of her – which was fair, considering they didn't really know her yet. At least they took her message.

Jessa, along with many of her peers, were making their way through the halls when an announcement came through the school.

"All students to return to their House dormitories at once. All teachers return to the staff room. Immediately, please."

It was Professor McGonagall. She froze a bit.

Then she had an idea. A horrid one. But an idea nonetheless.

She wasn't that far from where the original message had been. Maybe a new one had appeared – it would tell her what was going on. More importantly – she'd be willing to bet her brother would be around. Maybe between the two of them, they'd hear the voice again.

Jessa slid away from the group and froze. She was right. Written in blood, the new message read:

Her skeleton will lie in the Chamber forever.

It didn't matter who it was. They didn't deserve that. She swallowed hard, not wanting to admit she was shaking.

Then she heard a loud, protesting voice, separate from the other students still filing away to safety.

She glanced around the corner and saw her brother and Ron practically pushing Professor Lockhart towards a lavatory…Moaning Myrtle's lavatory.

What on earth were they up to?

She slid into the lavatory as Myrtle seemed to be telling the boys about her death and pointing to a sink.

"Harry?"

He whipped around. "Jessa! What are you doing here?"

"I saw you heading this way. I want to help."

He shook his head. "Go back to your common room. I don't want you here."

She stepped back, hurt clearly written on her face. Harry glanced at Ron before walking up to his sister. "Ginny's the one inside. We have to rescue her. But I can't risk losing my own sister in the process."

"If it's Ginny, then I definitely want to help," she declared, though she could understand where her brother was coming from.

"Why?"

Jessa turned to look at Ron. "Why? Aside from the fact that no one deserves to be taken like that? I've been in classes all year with your sister, she's a good person and my classmate. I'm not going to just let her die if I can do something about it."

Harry just nodded, returning to the tap Myrtle claimed never worked. It looked like an ordinary sink. They examined every inch of it, inside and out, including the pipes below. And then Harry saw it: Scratched on the side of one of the copper taps was a tiny snake.

"Harry," said Ron. "Say something. Something in Parseltongue."

A strange hissing sound came from Harry's mouth.

The effect was immediate. The tap glowed with a brilliant white light and began to spin. Next second, the sink began to move; the sink, in fact, sank, right out of sight, leaving a large pipe exposed, a pipe wide enough for a man to slide into.

"Impressive," a drawling voice came from the doorway.

Four sets of eyes snapped to find Malfoy leaning against the doorway, eyes wide.

"What the bloody hell do you want?" Ron asked, expression darkening.

He was ignored as Draco entered, crossing to where his housemate stood.

"We don't have time for this," declared Harry.

"Well, you hardly seem to need me," said Lockhart, with a shadow of his old smile. "I'll just—"

He put his hand on the door knob, but found four wands pointed at him.

"You can go first," Ron snarled.

White faced and wandless, Lockhart approached the opening.

"Boys," he said, his voice feeble. "Boys, what good will it do?"

"Petrificus Totalus!"

Lockhart froze, falling to the floor.

"What?" Malfoy snapped. "It's not like he was going to be of any use."

"Ron and I will go get Ginny. Jessa, you should go back. Tell Professor McGonagall what we've found."

"And leave you alone?"

"We've wasted enough time as is. Please?" Harry practically begged.

Swallowing hard, she nodded, watching as the two Gryffindor boys disappeared down the pipe.

"I hate to say it, but I agree with your brother."

She twirled around. "Excuse me?"

"A professor should know. McGonagall's acting headmistress right now. And their head of house."

She slowly nodded and with a backwards glance at the pipe, starting walking quickly towards her office, praying the transfiguration professor would be there.

Draco walked behind her. He wasn't going to allow his friend to wander through the halls alone right now. Especially considering who she was.

"Miss Potter? Mister Malfoy? Why in Merlin's name are you out of your dormitories?"

"Because Harry and Ron Weasley were," she began. McGonagall paled a bit, and with good reason in her opinion. "And they know about Ginny. They've gone to try and rescue her."

"And where, exactly, have they gone?"

"Into the Chamber of Secrets, ma'am."

McGonagall looked stunned. "You know where it is then?"

"Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, Professor. They tried taking Professor Lockhart with them, but, well…," she trailed off.

"I see. I'll go inform Professor Dumbledore at once. He's due back any minute and I'm sure he'll want to be kept informed. In the meantime, you two best be getting back to your common room. And I will know if you take a detour."

She gaped. "Professor, my brother is in danger. I'm not just going to sit around waiting – "

" – you will, Miss Potter. It's what is safest. I will send a student to fetch you once he's safely back."

"What if I went to the Hospital Wing to wait for him? We both know he's going to end up there anyway."

Professor McGonagall regarded her carefully, before nodding. "Very well. You may wait at the Hospital Wing."

She then turned to Draco. "And you, Mister Malfoy? I know you don't have the same desire."

"No Professor. But if it's all the same, I'll wait with Jessa."

This time, it was Malfoy whom Professor McGonagall regarded carefully. After a long moment, she nodded.

As they walked through the silent hallways, she stopped to look at him. "Thank you. You didn't have to."

"Sorry?"

"You didn't have to come after me. Or stay with me, for that matter."

"It's what friends do, isn't it?"

She nodded, not meeting his searching gaze. "Still…thank you. I – I know Harry will probably kill me for saying this, but I'm really glad I met you."

Draco smiled down despite himself and quickly looking around, pulled her into a quick, one-armed embrace. "I am, too."