Hey everybody! This chapter is the "A Suffering Too Terrible to Name" of Chamber of Secrets, so that's just a little warning about what's to come. Enjoy!

(Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.)

Chapter 23:

Lead Us Out of the Darkness

"Harry's insides did a horrible somersault. Professor McGonagall pushed the door open and he and Ron entered...Madam Pomfrey was bending over a sixth-year girl with long, curly hair.
Harry recognized her as the Ravenclaw they'd accidentally asked for directions to the Slytherin common room. And on the bed next to her was —
'Hermione!'"

Stella had been appointed Hufflepuff Chaser earlier in the year, and she was really looking forward to being beat by Harry Potter when she heard the news that the game had been cancelled.

"Oh, great," she thought to herself as she started to put her broom away. "Of course today's the double attack."

She was walking back to her Common Room when she saw Ginny running through the hallway, sobbing.

"Ginny?" Stella asked, stopping her. "Are you alright?"

Ginny shook her head and fell into Stella, gripping onto her for dear life.

"It's okay, it's okay," Stella said, trying to calm Ginny down. "Can you tell me what happened?"

"No," Ginny whispered quietly through her sobs. "But I can show you."

Stella tried to put on a brave face, recognizing the words from Tom Riddle's diary in the books. "Lead the way."

As quickly as possible, Ginny rushed away, and Stella ran behind her. After a few minutes of running, the two girls arrived at the hospital wing.

Stella tried to mentally prepare herself. It's just Hermione and Penelope, she thought. They'll be alright as soon as the Mandrakes are ready. They'll just look the same way Opa did.

She walked into the hospital wing to see Harry and Ron looking over one of the beds. Hermione, Stella thought. She walked over to the boys, about to say something, when -

The shine of sun reflecting off glass blinded her for a split second. Stella looked in the direction of the light to see -

"Molly!" she cried, her face falling as the light shone onto it, reflecting off Molly's glasses. "No, no, no…"

She looked at Molly, her face twisted in a confused expression, her eyebrows furrowed. Her entire body was a pale shade of grey, as though she was a statue that had been carved out of the finest stone.

Stella felt the tears begin to trickle, and she prayed that nobody would see as she began to cry. She didn't know what to say at all - the last time it had seemed that a friend of hers had died, she had tried to make an In the Heights reference, but she should've known better than to reference the saddest song in In the Heights.

She wished that someone could be next to her, the way Molly had been when they cried over Madison's body together. She wished that someone could share in her pain.

She wished she wasn't alone.

Mackenzie was in her room - she had never been really interested in Quidditch. She was working on her homework, studying for the looming finals, when she realized that Molly had never come back from wherever she was.

"It's probably nothing," Mackenzie said to herself. "She's probably just singing in the bathroom again."

Suddenly, Lavender Brown burst into the room. "McGonagall's calling everyone down to the common room," she said. "Molly and Hermione have been Petrified."

Mackenzie's eyes widened, and she tried to play it off. "Very funny, Lavender," she said, turning back to her homework.

"No, I'm not kidding," Lavender Brown said, and Mackenzie turned around again. The smile that usually characterized Lavender was gone, replaced by an almost complacent frown. "They've been Petrified."

It finally sunk in. "Oh my God," Mackenzie said. "Come on."

The two ran down to the common room, where McGonagall was addressing the Gryffindors, including a forlorn-looking Harry and Ron standing beside her.

"All students will return to their House common rooms by six o'clock in the evening," she said. "No student is to leave the dormitories after that time. You will be escorted to each lesson by a teacher. No student is to use the bathroom unaccompanied by a teacher. All further Quidditch training and matches are to be postponed. There will be no more evening activities."

Mackenzie had the feeling that the students would normally complain, but with the circumstances, they were deadly silent. It was a far cry from the rowdy bunch that had greeted Harry and Ron when they flew in on the flying car.

"I need hardly add that I have rarely been so distressed. It is likely that the school will be closed unless the culprit behind these attacks is caught. I would urge anyone who thinks they might know anything about them to come forward," McGonagall said, her voice quieter than ever.

She attempted to climb out of the door to the common room. Her awkward motions would've been funny had the situation not been so dire.

Mackenzie didn't know what to say as the group of children began to speculate. She somehow couldn't bring herself to show any emotion, as though she had used up all her tears long ago. It didn't seem like it could be real. It just...couldn't.

Beatrix and Luna were making Butterbeer cap necklaces in the Ravenclaw common room when the entire House was summoned, and the room slowly filled with other students. Professor Flitwick walked into the room, standing on a stool next to the roaring fireplace.

"I regret to inform you that Hermione Granger, Molly Evans, and our House prefect, Penelope Clearwater, have all been Petrified."

The room fell silent. Even Luna stopped what she was doing and turned to listen.

"As we only have one prefect as of now, we shall have to be very prudent. We must help our neighbors, keep each other safe."

Beatrix's heart was beating faster and faster. She had barely heard anything that Flitwick had said - only Molly, Petrified, prudent, help -

She started to run, squeezing through the crowd, trying to get to the door of the common room -

And Flitwick's arms were around her waist, holding her back. She tried to squirm free - she had to help her neighbor - she needed to get to the hospital wing - she needed to help Molly -

"It's okay, Beatrix," Flitwick said, carefully placing her on a plush blue chair. He drew his wand. "Accio Handkerchief."

A blue handkerchief flew out of someone's pocket, flying into Flitwick's hand. He gave the handkerchief to Beatrix. "Here you go," he said comfortingly.

She took the handkerchief and rubbed her cheeks, surprised to find them wet. She hadn't even realized she was crying.

Even Snape seemed upset about the events that had transpired. Zoë, Jonah, and Ava were standing together as he told Slytherin House the news.

"We must band together as one school, and stay as safe as we possibly can," Snape said, slowly and deliberately. "This means no more roaming in the halls, no more going to class without a teacher, and no more Quidditch for the time being. If you do not follow these rules, House points will be taken from Slytherin. Thank you."

Snape turned and left the room. The second the door closed, Jonah heard someone burst out laughing. He turned to see Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle snickering together.

"Did you hear that?" Draco said, barely intelligible through his laughter. "Three more Mudbloods! That'll show them!"

Zoë shook her head. "They have got to go."

"I know," Ava said. "You think there's anything we can do, though?"

"I don't know," Zoë said. "I don't want to lose any House points, but the only way we could help any of them is to leave the common room."

Jonah could hardly hear their conversation as his blood began to boil. He couldn't stand his friends - including the only person who had believed that he hadn't killed Madison - being defamed in such a terrible way. He could feel his left hand curl into a fist, his other subconsciously inching toward his hammer.

He didn't care if it meant losing House points. He didn't care if it meant expulsion - he had already stared down the barrel of that gun. He didn't even care if it meant that he would mess up the timeline beyond repair.

He was going to save Molly if it was the last thing he ever did.

She watched those images for hours - Stella in the hospital room, Mackenzie in the common room, Beatrix in the plush blue chair, Jonah looking at Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle as though he wanted to murder them. She floated by the bathroom, where Madison was hovering on the ground next to Opa's Petrified body, afraid to let a tear fall.

She smiled, knowing that something had been done. Knowing that something would change - and as she knew very well, any change to the past changes the present as well.

"Disapparate."

Thanks for reading! Here are this chapter's behind-the-magic fun facts:

1) I've realized recently that I haven't been writing as many scenes for Ava and Zoë. I definitely want to include them in the story more, so I'll be working on that. It's also hard for me to type the umlaut on Zoë's name, so that might have something to do with it.

2) The title of the chapter is based on the song "Lead Us Out of the Night" from the musical Come From Away. The musical is about the thousands of people diverted to Gander, Newfoundland after the US air space was closed during 9/11, and the song is when the plane people learn why they were diverted. It's a really moving scene, and while the situation in this chapter is much less dire than 9/11, I thought it carried the same sentiment.

3) Jonah still has his hammer! The hammer is going to be a recurring element in the story, especially later on, when the books get really serious.

4) Stella originally wanted to be Hufflepuff Seeker, but I realized that her being Seeker would eliminate Cedric Diggory's involvement in the Quidditch match in Prisoner of Azkaban, so I had her be Chaser instead.

5) More foreshadowing when it comes to the cause of the whole adventure! Keep your guesses coming - I've gotten some good ones so far!

6) While it's a more indirect reference than the Come From Away reference, part of Stella's reaction is actually a reference to the musical Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812. See if you can spot it! (And no, I didn't forget the Oxford comma. Dave Malloy did.)

Feel free to review, but please no negative reviews or cursing. (And please, NOTHING POLITICAL!) Thanks!