Author note: wow really meant to get this up a lot earlier but life sort of got away with me, so sorry for that.

in my last 2 weeks of high school ever which is a bit strange but it does mean i will have more free time for writing.

also the story gets a bit more dark from here as you can probably tell but still, i promise a happy ending! :)

keep smiling everyone! xx

In all honesty, Ebony had been so wrapped up in her own troubles with Neville that the Triwizard tournament had somewhat passed her by.

She only wished that it had continued to do so.

They'd been down at the quidditch pitch, which had been turned into a maze, for just over two hours. Nothing much had happened.

Ebony had been sat close to Neville, commenting on the stupidity of having yet another event where the audience couldn't see anything when Harry and Cedric arrived on the grass outside the maze.

The crowd erupted into cheers and Ebony and Neville joined in.

"Go Hogwarts!"

Ebony cursed her small stature as people began to stand up to better view the champions.

"Oh come on," she muttered, trying to stand on her toes and crane her neck.

That's when the cheers died down and the screaming started.

"Neville?" He was looking out at the maze, going pale. Her heart began to pound. "Neville, what's going on?"

He continued to stare, his eyes darting around as the screams turned to cries. Ebony grew panicked, trying to peer through the heads of the students in front of them.

"What the fuck is happening?! Ebony cried and she grabbed his arm. He turned to her and she saw his eyes were bloodshot. "Neville?"

He didn't have to explain.

"My boy!" Amos Diggery wailed, his voice louder than all of those around him. "My beautiful boy!"

"Cedric's dead," Neville said grimly.

Ebony just formed an O with her mouth as the scene around her seemed to freeze.

...

Ebony didn't remember what happened next that night, or the days that followed. She was sure that it was the same for most people that the last few weeks of term just sort of slid by without much happening. No one knew much about what had happened in the maze, Harry didn't want to talk to anyone and no one was to bother him so everything was up to speculation, not that there was anything at all to go on.

Three days before the end of term, a first-year student came up to her in the common room to say that Professor McGonagall wanted to see her.

"What have you done now?" Ginny asked with a small smirk.

"Oh, cause I'm always in trouble aren't I?" Ebony replied as she left.

...

Ebony knocked and walked into McGonagall's office. "You wanted to see me, professor?"

McGonagall looked up from whatever she was doing. "Ah, yes, Come in Ebony."

Ebony closed the door behind her and sat down on the other side of the desk, her leg bouncing up and down nervously.

"Now," Professor McGonagall said, reaching into one of her drawers and pulling out a piece of parchment. "I'm going to show you something and I'm going to need you to memorise what it says."

Ebony frowned. Was it some sort of test?

"You don't need to do anything," she continued, handing over the slip to Ebony. "Just remember it."

Ebony took the parchment and read it.

12 Grimmauld Place, London.

Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix

She didn't recognise the address but she had heard of the order before, it was what the other side had called themselves during the first war. 'Order of the pricks' was her father's favourite nickname of it, her mother's versions were far more colourful.

"What is it?" She asked, handing the note back to McGonagall.

"It's a safe house," McGonagall said, casually setting the note on fire and watching it quickly burn to ash. Ebony just blinked in confusion.

"Why would I need the address of a safe house?"

McGonagall looked at her over the top of her glasses.

"Despite what you may think of me Ebony," she said. "I am no fool."

"I don't -"

"I have not taught you all these years and not noticed anything," McGonagall continued, ignoring Ebony's protest. "And you are more than old enough to understand the severity of your situation."

"What situation?" Ebony said quietly. McGonagall looked over to the top of her glasses, her face softened.

"Don't play ignorance, Ebony."

Ebony swallowed and looked down at her lap. She very much liked to pretend that everyone around her was perfectly oblivious. This, however, was obviously not true.

"As much as I would like to, and believe me I would, I cannot fix the problems you are facing," McGonagall said. "There are steps that you have to take on your own, when you are ready."

Ebony couldn't look up. She didn't ever really think of it as a 'situation', and she didn't think she'd ever be ready to deal with it.

"And I know the thought can seem scary but at some point, you have to start putting your own well-being first, regardless of others opinions."

How would she even do that?

"And," McGonagall continued, "I believe that everyone should have a safe place to go. And so would a certain cousin of yours."

Ebony's eyes widened and her heart leapt. Did professor McGonagall know she'd been talking to Sirius?

McGonagall chuckled quietly. "No need to look so panicked, I am fully aware of his innocence, and your little rendezvous."

"Oh." Ebony was still a little panicked at how calm her professor was at the fact she had been meeting with him, especially since she had no real evidence that he was in fact innocent. It seemed rather foolish the more she thought about it.

"Yes, I feel now is not the time to lecture you on the dangers of meeting with a runaway criminal, innocent or not," she said, clasping her hands together and giving Ebony a look that made her stomach squirm. "However due to the recent...circumstances... we are taking certain precautions, which involve getting him back on his feet."

"The Order of the Phoenix?"

"Exactly," McGonagall replied. "Now you cannot share this with anyone you understand, not even Longbottom."

"Yes professor," Ebony replied. She'd kept the fact she'd met with Sirius a secret, what was another one to add to the pile?

"Good." McGonagall opened a tin on her desk. "Have a biscuit and be on your way, it's nearly curfew."

Ebony look slightly taken aback but hesitantly reached for a piece of shortbread. She gave Professor McGonagall a smile as she turned and headed for the door.

"Oh and Ebony?" She turned back around to look at her professor. "It is not weak to accept help when you need it. In fact, it can be one of the bravest things to do."

Ebony just stared for a moment.

"Thank you, Professor, for everything."

Professor McGonagall gave her a nod and Ebony slipped out of the door.

...

The leaving feast was a very subdued affair in comparison to other years. There were no decorations, only black drapes hanging from the walls and the head table out of respect. Even the chatter in the hall was far quieter than usual.

Silence fell as Professor Dumbledore stood up.

"The end," said Dumbledore, looking around at them all, "of another year." He paused, and his eyes fell upon the Hufflepuff table. Theirs had been the most subdued table before he had gotten to his feet, and theirs were still the saddest and palest faces in the Hall.

There is much that I would like to say to you all tonight," said Dumbledore, "but I must first acknowledge the loss of a very fine person, who should be sitting here," he gestured toward the Hufflepuffs, "enjoying our feast with us. I would like you all, please, to stand, and raise your glasses, to Cedric Diggory."

They did it, all of them; the benches scraped as everyone in the Hall stood, and raised their goblets, and echoed, in one loud, low, rumbling voice, "Cedric Diggory."

"Cedric was a person who exemplified many of the qualities that distinguish Hufflepuff house," Dumbledore continued. "He was a good and loyal friend, a hard worker, and he valued fair play. His death has affected you all, whether you knew him well or not. I think that you have the right, therefore, to know exactly how it came about."

Ebony, who had been staring at the table, suddenly looked up. She wasn't the only one. Students all over the hall were casting each other glances.

"Cedric Diggory was murdered by Lord Voldemort."

A panicked whisper swept the Great Hall. People were staring at Dumbledore in disbelief, in horror.

Ebony turned to look at Neville, whose frightened expression mimicked her own. He took her hand under the table and squeezed tightly.

She turned back around as Dumbledore continued to speak, but she didn't really hear much of it. Her heart was pounding in her ears and her head was buzzing as she tried to not think of what Voldemort being back meant for her back home. The only positive that she could think of was that at the very least her parents would be in a good mood.

But it also meant that all the things she'd been dreading for years may be coming quicker than she'd like.

She continued to cling to Neville's hand under the table.

...

Ebony couldn't sleep. Not that that was surprising.

She had woken up sweating from a particularly unpleasant dream.

Her side was bleeding, slowly coating her hands in deep red.

The door bearing the number twelve seemed to never draw closer.

She ran to it or tried to. Her feet were heavy as if tied down by bags of sand, and every step was an excruciating amount of effort.

The door eventually stopped fading away and appeared in front of her. Ebony clutched the railing and knocked on the door.

It creaked open, revealing a crowd of people huddled in the hallway. Sirius, Neville, and Ginny were among them.

"Help," she squealed, "please."

The crowd roared with laughter, looking at each other, tears of hysterics rolling down their faces.

"Why would we help you?" Sirius asked, still laughing. "Maybe you just shouldn't be so pathetic."

Ebony's heart hammered in her chest.

"You thought I actually cared about you?" Neville said with a huge grin on his face. Ebony bit her lip as it quivered. "There's no piece of you worth caring for!"

The laughter grew louder, the crowd multiplying, surrounding her. Familiar faces all watching her bleeding out whilst pointing and laughing.

She turned in the direction she came from and saw her father standing in the darkness, a hooded figure standing behind him.

"Come home darling."

Ebony had woken up feeling physically sick, unable to shake the images from her mind.

So she'd given up sleeping, scared of what she might see if she closed her eyes again. She was in her usual spot - lying on the common room floor, no sound but the crackling fire and her own gentle breathing.

It had been a long year but yet it seemed to have slipped away too quickly.

"Thought you'd be up."

Ebony turned her head to see Neville wandering over from the stairs. He lay down next to her, his hair sticking up in all directions.

"Am I that predictable?" she said, managing a small smile.

He laughed quietly. "Just a little. I could sleep either."

"Bad dream?" she asked. He just nodded and stared at the ceiling. "Me too."

Ebony looked down to where his hands were resting on his stomach, his thumbs rhythmically twisting around each other. She reached out and placed her hand on them. He looked at her.

"Knut for your thoughts?" She asked.

"It's all happening so suddenly," he said after a deep breath, faint worry lines forming on his forehead. "I thought he was gone, I thought it was over."

Voldemort.

Ebony felt as though the news hadn't quite sunk in yet. It all felt a little too surreal.

"My parents never gave up hope, I guess they knew this day would come."

"Do you reckon they were there? When he came back?"

Ebony hadn't really thought about it, she was struggling enough to process the fact that the Dark Lord was back. But she didn't doubt it for a second.

"Probably."

A silence fell and Ebony just stared at the ceiling, waiting for Neville to ask the question he always did. Except this time she had lost her excuse, she had somewhere to go, somewhere safe and with Sirius.

So why was she still going home?

She could easily just leave the platform on her own, find the safe house and that would be that. But deep down something was stopping her.

Maybe she was scared.

Maybe she was still naive, or at least playing ignorance.

Maybe she was hoping that they'd changed overnight.

Maybe she was ashamed that she couldn't stand up for herself.

Maybe she couldn't face how she really felt about them.

The nightmare she had just had felt like too much to unpack at the minute.

Ebony just shuffled over and leant her head against Neville's shoulder, sighing softly.

He leant his head down to meet hers.

All she knew was that she was going to miss him.

...

The train ride back was more painful than usual.

Ebony hadn't been herself since the leaving feast and Neville knew why. For him, going home meant getting away from everything to do with Voldemort and Cedric's death but for her, she was heading straight for the storm.

She spent most of the journey with her head against the window, only looking up when Ginny and Luna came in to sit with them for a bit and again when Seamus and Dean popped their heads in.

No one said much. Ebony tried to appear cheerful but as the train drew closer to Kings Cross she gave up.

The two of them held hands the whole time. Ebony had taken his soon after they set off and Neville didn't let go. He couldn't do a lot for her but he could give her a little bit of comfort.

And once they pulled into the station, he really didn't want to let go.

But she eventually slipped her hand out of his grasp and took her trunk out of the rack.

Ebony looked up at him and Neville had to fight the urge to just grab her and never let go.

He never liked watching her go home and this year he had a million more reasons to not want her to.

"Neville I-" Ebony was cut off by Draco appearing in the doorway and clearing his throat. He cast a glare in Neville's direction.

"Let's not be late."

Ebony looked at Draco and back to him.

What were you going to say?

"I'll see you in September I guess," she said, a too-small smile on her lips.

He just stood like an idiot as she took her trunk and disappeared down the corridor of the train, giving him one last look as she went.

Neville turned and watched her from the window, trailing behind her cousin. He felt someone else enter the compartment and soon Ginny joined his side, following his line of sight to Ebony as she disappeared into the crowd.

"Will she be okay?"

Neville just sighed.

"I don't think so." His chest felt tight like he almost couldn't breathe.

Ginny wrapped her arms around him and said nothing.