Seven Years, Chapter 19.

Beta Reader: ChocolateOwl.

CW: Police brutality.

AN: Apart from the OCs introduced in this chapter, I don't own any characters.


Merula woke up in the darkness with a bright light shining into her eyes. She half scrambled and half fell out of the chair she was in, her heart pounding as she tried to claw into the darkness for her wand.

But a strong hand seized her hand. Merula jerked her head up, just in time to see Tiffany press a slender finger to her lips.

"It's ten minutes to three," she whispered at the same time Merula finally managed to grab her wand off the cold floor. "And you're due for Gringotts by four."

Merula nodded dumbly and looked around the room, trying to findher bearings as Tiffany waved the lit wand that still blinded Merula, mercifully causing the light to die. A calming darkness flooded the common room once more like a soft silk blanket, one Merula quickly managed to accustom her eyes to.

"We've already informed the other prefects of your case," Merula heard a voice say, one she recognized as one of the male prefects. She didn't remember his name off the top of her head though. "Tiffany has volunteered to get you to and from Gringotts. I trust you know how to use the Floo Network?"

"Of course," Merula scoffed at the ridiculous question as she turned back to Tiffany, who was now holding her wand alight. The light was bright enough for Merula to see through, but not so bright that it blinded her. "I'm not a Muggle-"

The mental image of Terrence Higgs doubled over and in pain silenced Merula. She felt the room become cold, as if everyone, including Merula herself, was expecting A.J. to emerge from the darkness and deliver punishment, to leave her doubled over on the floor, vomiting slugs... or worse.

Merula froze in place and closed her eyes, waiting for the proverbial shoe to drop and the blow that would leave her crumpled on the ground. Instead, all Merula heard was Tiffany groaning in what sounded like exhausted irritation. "A.J. scared you, didn't she? Let me guess, with Higgs?"

"I'm sorry." Merula blurted out. "I shouldn't have said that."

"She's sleeping like a baby," Tiffany scoffed. "And like I've said before, I've heard a lot worse, from A.J. no less."

Merula opened her eyes again as she tried to process the information, though she could hardly believe her ears. But instead of elaborating, Tiffany just turned around, waving at Merula to follow. "But that's a story for another day. Come on. We'll be using the fireplace in the Great Hall."

Merula frowned as she turned to the smouldering fireplace not ten paces away. "Why not that one?"

"Weasley is on patrol tonight," the male prefect's voice came from behind them. "And since the only people he cares about are those he sucks up to, we're going to make sure every last one of them knows exactly what kind of effect his father's precious law has. You know, make them see it with their own eyes."

The promise of revenge snapped Merula's tired mind awake, and she looked over to Tiffany.

"It's true," Tiffany said with a shrug. "I pulled some strings to get almost all the seventh year prefects around the central fireplace. We tried to tell you of course, but you just kept staring at the clock in the Great Hall every moment we could find you."

Merula followed Tiffany absentmindedly as she climbed the stairs that led out to the main dungeons, trying to remember the event Tiffany had talked about, but drawing a blank. It was as if she had gone to bed the night after the Auror incident, and woken up three days later, even if Merula knew for a fact that she at the very least attended classes and ate something, given that she hadn't collapsed from hunger yet.

"There's a passage that we figured you should at least know about," Tiffany said when they passed through to the main dungeons. She glanced from side to side before she continued speaking. "But make sure that nobody sees you, alright? We don't want everyone to know."

Merula frowned as she followed Tiffany to a small side room she had never seen before. She paused as she noticed a portrait she recognized as Salazar Slytherin staring back at her.

"Mortal Dread," Tiffany called out, using her free hand to pull the portrait aside, revealing a long, plain staircase behind the portrait. It was clearly less used than the main staircase, with sharp, dusty steps that looked like the pristine, sharp stairs at Malfoy Manor, unlike the worn and smoothed staircases that made up the usual dungeon staircase. "Come on now, we'll be late at this rate, and me bringing along Myers will be for nothing."

Merula blinked at the unfamiliar name. "Myers?"

"Jenny Myers," Tiffany said with a shrug. "We did potions together when we were younger, though neither of us were really good at it. Long story. And she can't even claim to be a Muggleborn."

Merula raised an eyebrow at the news but said nothing. It was safer that way. She wasn't sure what kind of witch Myers would be, but the combination of being bad at potions and coming from a family that Merula wasn't familiar with wasn't a good sign, even if she supposed that she couldn't be any worse than the Weasleys.

"But Jenny's really nice, actually," Tiffany added assuringly. "You'll like her. Even A.J. likes her."

"I wouldn't say that," a friendly voice from above called. "She didn't like me until she got over you-know-what."

Merula glanced up and noticed a small, flickering lantern at the top of the stairs, illuminating a student around Tiffany's age. The student had a violet Prefect's badge on her uniform, and Merula was oddly at ease with her. She was pretty with a slender face and shoulder length brown hair, but she also had a very friendly, approachable feel that felt almost at odds with the Prefect's badge on her uniform. In fact, apart from the always-cheerful Tiffany, the only other student at Hogwarts Merula had met that she felt comfortable with was the mis-sorted Hufflepuff, Barnaby Lee, who she refused to believe could ever have been sorted into Slytherin.

"You're early," Tiffany said with a grin when they reached the top of the stairs. The lantern in the strange student's hand revealed a small side room to the Great Hall that Merula had never paid attention to, one with four long portraits of the founders dominating the plain, stony walls. "Merula, meet Jenny, Hufflepuff's answer to Vicky, and probably my best friend at Hogwarts."

"I'd wish we met under better circumstances," the other prefect said with a weak smile, offering a long, slender hand that Merula shook awkwardly. "Come on then. We have maybe an hour left to get you fed, then you're off."

"Fed?" Merula muttered the word slowly, trying to remember the last time she could remember eating anything. She only drew a blank, forcing her to reconsider the possibility that she had, in fact, simply slept through the last few days without noticing it.

"You barely ate," Tiffany said, her voice suddenly gentle. "And that's only when you made the effort of coming to meals. You just seemed like... like the clock in the Great Hall was hypnotizing you."

"Deborah said something about being a zombie," Jenny said, her arms crossed around her chest. "I would say closer to one of Lockhart's fans, but there's a lot of overlap between the two."

"Deb's been reading too many Conebush and Persimmons again," Tiffany replied with a roll of her eyes. "Merula's just not eating enough, that's all."

"And we're here to change that for you," Jenny said as she turned to the centre of the Great Hall. "And I know some places in London that might help with that."

Merula followed the Hufflepuff prefect forward, right toward the fireplace at the centre of the Great Hall, noticing the presence of several other prefects. They were all gathered and watching, but none of them said a word as Merula passed by, nor did they meet her eyes.

"Come on Merula," Tiffany said, stepping very close behind her, and blocking Merula's view of the other prefects. "Gringotts awaits."

"On three," Jenny said with a small nod to Merula, pulling out a small box from her robes and tossing it into the flames. The tongues of fire turned green as Jenny placed the little box back into her robes. "Three..."

"One!" Tiffany cut in, and Merula, on cue, leapt into the flames. Behind her, she could vaguely hear Jenny shout a location Merula wasn't familiar with before the Floo Network sent her flying though Wizarding Great Britain.

Merula landed awkwardly and found herself face down on a cold, white floor, in a location that she realized wasn't Gringotts, and she staggered to her knees before she took a long, confused look around the room.

The right side of the long, massive corridor reminded her of King's Cross Station, with a dozen large clocks hanging high, each showing a different time, illuminated by a few bright lanterns that were simply ineffective for the massive size of the hall, but also the brilliant pale stars that shone through a clear glass ceiling.

When Merula turned her head to her left, she caught a glimpse of another dozen clocks, though her attention was drawn to Tiffany and Jenny tumbling through a fireplace, far closer to each other than what Merula thought was advisable.

"How long has it been since we were last here?" Tiffany asked Jenny as she waved over to Merula.

"Since the intervention." Jenny replied, giving Merula a gentle nudge before she pointed at a brightly lit restaurant just a few paces next to them. "Now come along Merula. There's a diner open twenty four hours a day, and you can't slack on your meals unless you want to become like A.J. when she got into muggle music."

Merula watched the Hufflepuff prefect try a wide grin, but in a second the grin disappeared into a frown, and then a head-dropping defeat when Merula looked up at her in confusion.

"Sorry," Jenny muttered. "Now's not really the time to try and lighten the mood."

"Let's just get something to eat," Tiffany cut in, changing the subject. She waved Merula toward the closest empty table at the restaurant. "Order whatever you want. We'll pay for it."

Merula approached the table slowly. Before she sat down, she flicked open a menu. Even before she finished the first page, her head hurt from reading the long list of options and the even longer list of optional sides.

"Just get me what you're getting," Merula muttered as she tossed the menu aside, pausing for a moment before she continued, suddenly aware of the fact she didn't so much know the Hufflepuff prefect's name an hour before, much less her taste in food. "Just… not anything sweet, alright?"

"You don't want Turkish coffee," Jenny replied without so much as looking up from her menu. "If you drink it black you won't be able to sleep for a week."

"Trust her on that," Tiffany added from next to Merula. "Believe us. A.J. tried once, and she almost ended up at St. Mungos."

Merula nodded slowly as she looked back down at the menu again, her finger tracing the singing image of a stack of pancakes until she felt a massive hand seize her shoulder and drag her to her feet.

Merula yelped and tried to pull her arm free, but the hand refused, and she only had time to gag at the smell of rot, smoke, and cheap alcohol before the hand that gripped her dragged her up, to face the murderous face of the man she hated most in Wizarding Britain.

"You," the Auror who killed her mother growled into her face, his breath and mangled teeth up close causing Merula to gag. "You're coming with me."

Merula tried to jerk away from the man, but his grip tightened into her shoulder, and she could only scream in pain as her head bounced against the hard table, her eyes blinded by pain and sudden tears.

"Let her go!" Merula heard Tiffany shout from somewhere above her. "Or I'll-"

Merula didn't hear the rest of Tiffany's sentence as the hand and accompanying stench came back, dragging her upright even as she tried to fight back, and she tried to dig her heels into the cold floor, but all she could feel was the hand that bit into her shoulder, like a rabid beast.

But then there was a roar that deafened her ears as the hand gripping her shoulder fell away, and Merula suddenly had no enemy to fight against, even as her feeble attempts at fighting back sent her sprawling down and her head banging heavily against the ground.

The fall knocked the breath from Merula, and she took a few feeble gasps before she opened her eyes again, rolling onto her front before she staggered back to her feet, her ears ringing and her eyes barely able to perceive the scene before her.

Her hands were trembling as she watched a giant of a man step behind the murderous Auror. A massive hand seized the Auror's collar and hoisted him up into the air, as if he was a Muggle doll.

"What do we do now?" Tiffany asked from beside her, her voice distant despite the fact that Merula could feel her hands supporting her back. "He's still an Auror- do we help him?"

"That's another Auror," Merula heard Jenny say, equally as distant as Tiffany. "I recognize his badge."

Merula focused slowly on the newcomer's badge, a small shape of silver on the front of his long, heavy looking coat, though the pain in her head refused to abate long enough for her to even make out the concrete shape of the badge, only allowing Merula to make out that it was a small, pale object that reflected the clear moonlight from above.

"I apologize for the interruption," the man said, his voice a deep, rich sound that made even Lucius and Snape sound silly in comparison, though Merula could barely comprend his words through her pain. "But I must hand this… drunk off to one of your Aurors."

Merula hardly recognized her own voice that cut through the silence, nor did she feel the words slipping past her lips.. "But… he is an Auror."

"Then he is one undeserving of the title," the Auror with the deep voice said. He provided Merula with a short bow as he effortlessly began to drag the murdering Auror away. "Pardon the interruption."

It was a shout from the defeated Auror that tipped Merula over the edge, as the pain in her head reached a perfect, terrible crescendo and her knees collapsed, the darkness claiming her once again.

She must have only been out for a few seconds, but Merula woke up in a panic, her eyes darting around the hall as she tried to stumble to her feet.

"Merula?" Jenny's voice cut through the haze of Merula's mind, and she turned over to look at the prefect, noticing the concern on her face. "Are you alright?"

Merula swallowed heavily, and she looked up at the clocks on the opposite wall, and she swallowed at the sight of the London clock, showing that she had mere minutes before the Gringotts deadline was due.

"Merula..." Jenny was speaking again, even if Merula thought her calm voice sounded forced. "We- you took a nasty fall there. You should go to St. Mungos."

Merula took a deep breath and gagged at the stench the murdering Auror left in her mouth, a disgusting combination of rot and alcohol that turned her stomach and broke any hunger she might have had beforehand. "No," she managed, shaking her head violently as she hurried away from the table. "I need to go. Or they- they'll come."

"Merula," Jenny said. Her voice was gentle but firm, like what Merula imagined a mother would say, what Narcissa should have sounded like if she cared for her at all. "You're hurt. They can't open your vault if you drop dead."

The thought of her real mother, dead in the ground, brought a wave of terror over Merula that stopped her cold, and a desperate wish for time to stop, to save her from the dark truth, to save her from desecrating the vault of her bloodline, spilled wordlessly from Merula's lips.

But as she turned back to the central clock on the opposite side of the station, the thin hand of the clock that represented seconds refused her, and a relentless beat assaulted her ears. Each stroke was like a blow that buried itself in her heart, until she could no longer bear to watch the giant clock and its relentless attack against what precious seconds of innocence she still had left.

Merula couldn't bear to face it anymore. Not the clock, not the kindly guardians who had saved her from her hell, and not the two seventh years that were next to her.

So Merula shoved Tiffany away, as hard as she could, before she ran from the clock, away from the loss of everything she loved, away from the destruction and desecration of her family legacy. She didn't care where she would go, only that it was anywhere but there. But still she could not escape the sound of the hands moving, for it seemed like the maddening sound had buried itself inside her head.

Even when she burst free from the long, dark terminal and into the cool September morning, the sound inside her head refused to stop, even as Merula felt a rush of cold air hit her like a slap across the face, and she stumbled, tripping on a loose stone on the old stone road under her.

It was then that the pain hit, a sharp, stabbing pain inside her stomach that came with the first gasp of chilled air, as if Merula had breathed in a vicious curse that staggered her and almost brought her crashing to the ground, a curse that ran within her, without restraint or mercy, tearing her insides apart.

It felt like a curse, one fired at her from behind, or one waiting in the very air itself, and Merula dropped her wand as her vision darkened, the pain increasing as the sound of the ticking hands sped up within her head, making forming coherent sentences within her mind impossible.

Merula spun her head around again, back at the doorway that led to the terminal with the clocks, and her eyes darted toward a lone figure stepping from the building Merula had just left. She couldn't see the face of the newcomer, but it must have been another cruel Auror who had cursed her, to bring her down, to drag her into the darkness that lay under Gringotts.

Despite her fear and the pain, Merula endured, and broke into a run down the street, trying to find any kind of help. And despite her best attempts to will it away, to endure, the pain continued. The knives that tore at her lower belly continued with every passing second, the pain in a perfect, terrible drum-beat to the clock that danced in her head and the pain she felt in her lungs, like a fire with every breath she took. Her legs felt it too, every step she took deadening her legs, until she wasn't sure if she had anything left below her knees.

When the blow that sent her sprawling to the uneven stones below hit, Merula wasn't sure she had the strength anymore to keep going, and she spent the last of her willpower to cry out as she felt her knee tear, a hot fire bringing sensation back to every part of her body.

In a single moment, Merula felt her lungs catch fire and her throat burn, she felt her legs scream in unison as pain her entire body, and as she laid on the rough, icy stones,the only warmth she felt came from the blood- her own, flowing from her body, leaving only the cold within her.


Merula woke slowly again, this time in a warm bed she wasn't familiar with, her body slow and sluggish. The pain, the blood, all of it was gone, as if it had all been a terrible dream.

She wasn't wearing her uniform anymore, and her throat felt like she had swallowed cotton. She could see faces she recognized but did not have the names for, floating above her every time she opened her eyes.

It was bright when she finally gathered enough strength to force herself up. Her body responded slowly as she tried to sit up, her arms clinging to two cold metal bars by her bedside. It took three attempts for Merula to sit up, and by the end of it, she found herself out of breath, her limbs moving slowly and a churning storm in her head that made forming coherent sentences difficult.

There was a soft, musical chime to her right, and Merula looked over in time to see a tall, smiling med-witch walk through the door, a glass of water in her hands.

"Do stay in bed, Miss Snyde," the med-witch said. She held the glass in front of Merula, planting a bright pink straw that Merula hated on top of the drink, a straw she repeatedly nudged Merula with until she finally swallowed the last of her pride and drank.

When the glass was empty, Merula felt better. At the very least, the blockage at her throat was gone and the pain in her head was withdrawing slowly. She still felt weak, her limbs numb and sore, but at the very least she knew what state her body was really in, even if the answer wasn't something she was happy with.

"I…" Merula started when the water finally ran dry and her mind began to form difficult questions she needed the answers to. "What happened with the vault?"

The med-witch said nothing, and Merula played nervously with her fingers. Her hopes for an answer faded with each moment of silence, until finally, the wed-witch shook her head. "I wouldn't know the answer to that," the med-witch said. "But there is an Auror outside waiting for you, if you're ready to take visitors. They waited for you to wake up since the very beginning."

"An Auror?" Merula grimaced at the words. "I… I don't have to go with him, do I?"

"St. Mungos will never allow a patient to leave until they have been cured of their maladies," the med-witch said with a warm smile. "And you will be no different."

Merula swallowed as she watched the door, trying to figure out who the Auror was. "Where is my wand?"

"I'm not quite sure," the med-witch said. "You didn't come in with one, as far as I remember."

Merula looked over to the stained glass window and flinched when she heard a loud rap on the other side of the door.

"Oh," the med-witch said, her face confused as she turned around. "I wonder who that-"

"Wait." Merula managed, her voice coming out in a desperate plea. "I- I just erm."

"Yes?" the med-witch hadn't even bothered to turn around, and even took a step closer to the door.

"Please don't leave me," Merula blurted, hating how weak she sounded. She was supposed to be the scion of at least three wizarding families, and yet she was all but begging. "Not alone with… them."

"Good doctor," a deep, heavily-accented voice called from the other side of the door, a voice that Merula couldn't quite put a face to, but still recognized. "Is the patient awake?"

Before Merula could respond, to ask- no, beg for more time, the med-witch acted for her and pulled the door wide open.

To Merula's surprise, there wasn't just one man behind the door, but three. She recognized all of them, and none of them were the murdering Aurors who haunted her nightmares.

"Nurse," Kingsley Shacklebolt said with a nod. "We will require a small amount of privacy with your patient. We will not be long."

"We will only be here for two minutes," the second man, the Auror with the accent from the morning at the station added, his face grim. "After that, we hope that the patient will never have to encounter us again."

"Auror Trent will remain on watch until the patient recovers," Shacklebolt continued, his voice firm. "Now please, good doctor, leave us."

Merula was about to raise her voice, but she caught the eye of the young Auror and the slight shake of his head. In the half second of hesitation, the med-witch was gone, the door shut behind her.

Merula swallowed deeply and tried to make out any emotion from the three Aurors before her, and wondered how angry they must have been for her failing to arrive at the vault. Mentally, a scene of them dragging her across the hospital to her family's ancestral vault played out, and Merula shivered and flinched away, though she knew it was a pointless act.

"Miss Snyde," Shacklebolt said, his voice low and his face a mix of anger and disgust. "I believe it will please you to know that Aurors Norton and Hadley have been sacked for their rather disgraceful conduct."

Merula blinked in surprise. "You mean…"

"At the moment," Shacklebolt continued. "Both have been removed from duty. We expect a trial into their actions, with a conviction likely resulting in a long sentence to Azkaban, and in the unlikely event of acquittal-"

"Then the reputation of your Wizengamot will plummet even further," the foreign Auror said, his voice even harder than Shacklebolt's. "Tell me, Kingsley. Which of your bureaucrats came up with the idea to force children to open these vaults? And how many idiots will it take to acquit them?"

"The Muggle Protection Act has been repealed in its entirety," Shacklebolt snarled, his eyes dark as he began pacing around the room. "As for Mr. Weasley, I can only vouch for his excellent character and his devotion to protecting Wizarding Britain."

"Merula," the young Auror Merula remembered as Joseph interrupted the two men. "Are there any questions?"

"Auror Trent," Merula noticed Shacklebolt say in annoyance before he paused, his eyes darting over to the foreign Auror before he spoke again. "No, you are correct. Miss Snyde should not see us argue like this."

"Miss Snyde should not have been involved at all," the foreign Auror spat, turning on his heel as he spoke. "The secrets of Magnus Snyde died with him, and yet your ministry insists on reviving a matter several decades dead."

Merula was about to ask the foreign Auror about the mysterious man named Magnus, but she fell silent when the door was slammed, a booming sound that echoed against the walls.

"Auror Anker is rather busy," Shacklebolt explained when Merula met his eyes. "This entire process has been a waste of time for him, I'm afraid."

Merula nodded slowly at the information. "He mentioned a… Magnus?"

Shacklebolt paused, his eyes boring into Merula's own. "Your paternal great grandfather, if my file on the case is correct."

Merula blinked, trying to remember any time she had heard the name before. "What did he do? For Weasley to want in on-"

"Miss Snyde," Shacklebolt's voice was polite but firm. "That is Mr. Weasley to you. I do not know what your father calls him at home, but you should always refer to him with respect, as… regretful your experiences with him have been."

Merula stayed silent as she considered Shacklebolt's words, and her mind drifted to the image of Terence Higgs, doubled over in the Slytherin common room. If A.J., still just a student, could do that to someone, if a lone Auror could force her to inhale a curse that tore up her insides, she didn't want to find out what Shacklebolt could do.

"Are we clear, Miss Snyde?" Shacklebolt's voice broke through Merula's mind.

Merula swallowed her pride and anger and nodded her deference. She still hated Weasley, all of them, but to disagree now was to sell a rook for a pawn, and she had no intention of doing that.

"Auror Trent will see to your needs until you are discharged," Shacklebolt said, raising a hand when Merula opened her mouth to protest. "And that will include questions."

Merula took a deep breath and nodded again as Shacklebolt stepped out, waiting until the door shut behind them before she spoke.

"Um," Merula started. "Auror Trent?"

"Just Trent is fine," he replied with a shrug. "It's what Tiffany and the others called me anyhow."

Merula blinked in surprise at the words. "You knew them?"

"Benefits of being the helpful upperclassman," Trent said with a shrug. "And a prefect too. And oh, they picked up your wand, if you're worried about that."

"Oh," Merula said, rubbing her head slowly. "The Auror with Mr. Shacklebolt, erm…"

"Mathias Anker" Trent said with a weary sigh. "Senior Auror in Norway. Probably none too happy with the disaster."

"Why was he here?" Merula asked. "What was it about my… grandfather-"

"Great-Grandfather," Trent corrected Merula. "You don't know him? He fought in the First Wizarding War. He's in NEWT level History of Magic, if you ever wanted to know what's on their exams."

Merula looked at the Auror for a long moment, trying to make sure the man was serious, but her head hurt too much for serious thought. Up until the Auror Anker mentioned him, she hadn't even known her great grandfather's name, and yet he was so famous he was being taught at Hogwarts? It sounded impossible, and yet Trent seemed genuine.

"I-" Merula started, her mind trying to connect the dots between Weasley's Muggle Protection Act and her family vault. "He was a Dark Wizard? A follower of Grindelwald?"

From the confused look on the Auror's face, Merula could tell she had been wrong. Magnus Snyde, whatever he had done, wasn't a Dark Wizard.

"You don't know?" His voice was as surprised as his face. "He headed Norway's Auror department for most of the First Wizarding War."


AN: Surprise! Merula has a really famous ancestor. Well, two, but the other one isn't going to be relevant for... I dunno, maybe another 5-6 chapters. Expect a touch of political content and a history lesson between the two of them.

And before anyone feels the need to ask, Joseph Trent is what I named Jacob's Sibling.

Read, review, ask questions if you're confused.