Professor Minerva McGonagall has been Headmistress for a long time – twenty years, give or take. She's been a teacher longer than that, and for even longer than that, she's been the sort of witch who never fails to notice what's under her nose.

It's why she hasn't retired yet. Sure, there's a cottage near the Scottish Highlands that's been empty for the past twenty years, and – as Dumbledore's portrait keeps reminding her – she's not getting any younger. Professor Sprout keeps reminding her of their pact: she'll retire whenever Professor McGonagall does, but Minerva isn't ready for that just yet.

She loves her job. Whether it's being a Transfiguration teacher, the Head of Gryffindor, or the Headmistress of Hogwarts, she's always loved her job, and she's always loved Hogwarts. It's why she hasn't stepped down, why she didn't stop teaching Transfiguration when she became Headmistress, why she all but insisted Harry Potter come to teach Defence when she realised the school needed a bit of extra protection this year.

Sometimes, though, it's hard to remember why she loves her job.

Like right now.

"For the last time, Mr. Weasley," she says, "if you want to become an Animagus, you will have to provide me a better reason than that 'you think it would be cool'."

Freddie Weasley looks alarmingly like his parents, alarmingly like the uncle he was named for. "But, Professor," he says. "I think you're underestimating just how cool it would be. It could be my Transfiguration project for the next two years."

Professor Minerva McGonagall is, above all things, professional. But she looks at Freddie Weasley before her and she can see a twinkle in his eyes that makes him look so much like his parents and so, so much like his uncle that her heart melts. "If you achieve an 'Outstanding' in your OWL, Mr. Weasley, then we will consider it," she finally says.

Freddie grins. "We will, Professor."

She doesn't have to ask to know who 'we' is: it'll be Jamie, who's never too far away from Freddie, and takes most of the same classes as him, too.

She sniffs. "Are you not meant to be patrolling the corridors, Mr. Weasley?"

"Leah's covering me. There's only a few minutes left of it before the sixth-year Prefects take over, anyway," Freddie says. "But," he adds – presumably seeing the very much unamused look on her face – "I'd better get back to it. Thanks for agreeing to see me, Professor!"

"I didn't," Minerva says dryly. "You walked into my office and started talking to me."

"Come on, Professor, you teach Transfiguration, not History. I don't need the history lesson," Freddie says, winking at her before he leaves the classroom.

Shaking her head, Minerva takes out a sheaf of parchment from the drawer of her desk. The Transfiguration essays for the third years are due to be returned soon, so she needs to make her way through them soon. She can't think about Freddie too much, or about Jamie, either. James 'Jamie' Sirius Potter: Another ghost from the past. One of the banes of her existence and also (although she is far too professional to admit it, of course), one of her favourite students. It's lucky that Jamie's taken after his mother in looks, because having to think about James Potter whenever she sees him might break her heart. Jamie might resemble his mother, though, but he's so much like James that it takes her by surprise sometimes. And seeing Jamie and Freddie stroll through the school by each other's side reminds her of Fred and George, and James and Sirius before them. History repeats itself, and depending on her mood, it makes her feel either fond, nostalgic, or sad, wistful for what might have been, if it weren't for the war. (Sometimes, when she's found herself having to give them detention yet again, it makes her frustrated – how many more Potters and Weasleys will she have to deal with before she can retire?)

She forces her attention back to the third years' essays about Animagi. She doesn't have the time to get distracted today. She simply has too much work to do.

When her door opens again – what feels like only a few minutes later, but is closer to half an hour – she doesn't look up when she says, "Yes?" She's expecting Freddie, back to ask a question about how to transform into an Animagus.

"Professor!" It's not Freddie. She looks up: it's a panicked-looking Leah Wood, looking at her with wide eyes. "Professor, you've got to come, right now! Please!" she says.

Minerva gets up at once, pausing only to grab her wand from the edge of her desk. "What happened?" she says.

"It's Jamie. And Freddie. I can't find either of them anywhere, and Danielle says she doesn't know where they are, either! I think—I think they're in trouble. Please, will you hurry?" Leah says.

Minerva doesn't hesitate. She's a teacher, and an academic, but she's a Gryffindor first and foremost. She has never run away when her students are in danger, and she isn't about to start now, not by a long shot. "Lead the way," she says.

"It seems empty," Ron says at the entrance to Hogwarts.

Harry feels sick from the Apparition from Azkaban to here, the outskirts of Hogwarts: either it's the Apparition, or it's the fear of his family being in imminent danger. He's going to chalk it up to the Apparition.

"We don't know if Mulciber was bluffing," Hermione says for the fourth time. "So we should stay calm."

Harry doesn't answer Hermione. Instead, he closes his eyes and thinks. Freddie's got the Marauder's Map, which means he doesn't know where to start in his search. If Mulciber's right, then something dangerous is happening in Hogwarts. The castle seems quiet, though, which means that whatever's happening has managed to be hidden from the students. When he last left for the Ministry – hours ago – Ginny was in their quarters, along with Jamie, Al, and Lily. "That's where we should check first," he mutters.

"Where, mate?" Ron asks.

"This way," Harry says, and sets off purposefully. His boots thunder on the corridors as he rushes, but Hermione and Ron manage to keep pace with him. His pace is rapid enough that he nearly trips over the stairs as he goes.

He wrenches open the door when they finally reach, and sees –

Nothing.

No one on the sofa, the armchair. No one in the kitchenette. Doesn't seem to be anyone in the bedroom, either.

"Fuck!" he mutters.

"Homenum Revelio," Hermione says, and shakes her head. "They're not here. No one is."

"No signs of a struggle," Ron says, looking around. "Maybe they just… all left?"

"Right. Maybe," Harry says, doing his best to calm down. He can feel his heart in his throat, thudding away. Ron could be right. Maybe Jamie's at Quidditch practice, Ginny's there with the team, and Albus and Lily are in their respective common rooms.

He turns when he hears footsteps, and sees McGonagall and Leah, rushing towards them. "Professor?" he hears Hermione saying.

"There seems to be a problem," McGonagall says.

He looks from McGonagall – he knows her well enough to see how worried she is under her usual stern demeanour – and then focuses on Leah. Her eyes are puffy with tears. "Leah?" he asks.

It's like a dam burst: Leah starts talking faster than usual, as if she's in a rush to get all her words out. "Jamie was meant to be in the common room," she says. "I just finished my patrol, and I was waiting for Freddie to come back from Professor McGonagall's. I agreed to wait for him on the Fat Lady's corridor, and we were going to walk back to the common room together. But I waited and waited and… he didn't show up. So I went to the common room, and Jamie wasn't there, either. He said he'd meet me at the end of my shift."

"Maybe he went somewhere else," Ron suggests.

Leah frowns. "He said he would meet me there, Mr. Weasley. Jamie doesn't lie, not to me. We're always honest with each other. If he said he would be there, he'd be there. Unless…"

"Unless something else happened," Harry says quietly.

Leah nods. "Something's wrong, Professor Potter," she says. "You have to believe me."

"I do, Leah," Harry says. He sees the fear on Leah's face, as clear as if it was written there, and he knows what she's worried about. He knows it, because it's exactly how he feels, too.

"Where do you think he is?" Hermione asks.

Leah starts to answer her question, but Harry isn't paying attention anymore. He's deep in thought, his mind racing a mile a minute.

"Professor," he says, fixing McGonagall with his gaze. "Leah said Freddie came to see you?"

"Yes," McGonagall says. "Half an hour ago, towards the end of my shift."

"And he was meant to come see me right after," Leah says, "but he didn't. He didn't show up."

"And you were waiting for him… by the entrance to the common room? The Fat Lady's corridor on the seventh floor?" Harry says.

Leah nods.

Harry frowns. The last time Death Eaters broke into Hogwarts under everyone's eye, Malfoy led them there. He used the repaired set of Vanishing Cabinets… which lead the Death Eaters into Hogwarts, right onto the seventh floor, through…

"I know where they are," Harry says. "The Room of Requirement, has to be. Come on, let's go."

Albus comes to in a room he doesn't recognise. He tugs at his wrists experimentally. They're bound to the arms of the chair he's sitting on, and his legs are bound, too. His head is throbbing, his entire body feels sore, and he's facing a wall. A white, nondescript wall.

"Wake up, Potter," says a voice. It's a familiar voice. Albus can't place it. Although, he reasons to himself, it seems it as though maybe he has a head injury, so maybe his recollection isn't the best at the moment.

"Turn him around," another voice says, a female one this time.

Someone tugs at Albus's chair roughly. His body, tethered to the chair only by what feels like very rough rope, jerks from the movement, and it only serves to hurt his head even more.

"Hello, Potter," says the jeering voice of the first boy who spoke to him. As he looks up at him, Albus recognises him immediately: Nigel Goyle. Seventh year Quidditch captain, tall and burly and one of the worst bullies in school. Albus has been doing his best to avoid him for the last three years. "I knew I'd get you eventually."

Albus opens his mouth – possibly to say what, possibly to say have you gone utterly insane, possibly to say I know where I recognise you! You attacked us! – but then falls silent when he takes in the scene before him, his mouth falling open in quiet horror.

His mum. Jamie. Lily. Scorpius. Freddie. All tied to chairs, like him. All struggling against their bonds, except… except his mum, who looks at him and gives him a tiny, almost invisible nod.

The last thing he remembers is leaving his mum and dad's rooms with Scorpius, chatting with him about the next Hogsmeade weekend. Everything after that is a blur, a blur which somehow led to this. Him, so many of the people he loves, tied to chairs. His siblings, his mum, his cousin, his boyfriend, helpless.

"How did you do this?" he asks, perhaps unwisely. His voice comes out in a squeak of fear. Albus would be embarrassed if he wasn't mortally terrified right now.

"He had some help," says the girl. "The others are joining soon. For now… Want to come out, Dad?"

A cupboard door opens, and a man steps out of it. Death Eater, Albus's mind tells him, but he doesn't know where he recognises him from. Maybe the newspapers. Maybe from a history book.

What is the point, he thinks, of being a bloody Ravenclaw, if he can't remember who a bloody Death Eater is?

"Hello, Avery," his mum says –mum spits out, more like. Albus can't help but admire her bravery. "I'd advise against laying a hand against any of my kids."

"Or what, Mrs Potter?" says the Death Eater – Avery – says. "It took us enough fucking times to get all of you. Getting the Weasley boy was just a bonus, isn't that right, Rita?"

"Yes," Rita says, looking very satisfied with herself. "He was passing by the corridor outside. So I heard him, snuck up on him, Stupefied him, and brought him in."

"Do you want to keep on boasting, or do you want to untie me so it's a fair fight?" Jamie bursts out.

"You know," Rita says, "this is all your dad's fault, James."

"What the fuck," Jamie says, "are you on about?"

"Jamie! Language," Albus's mum says, and then, "he's right, though, what the fuck are you on about?"

"He's the one that did this! Put Nigel's dad in prison, kept Mr. Avery away for all these years – and Mr. Selwyn, and all of them – and the only reason that your dad got away, Scorpius," Rita adds, "is that you knew how to get on the Potters' good side. Have you noticed that everyone on his side never gets in trouble?"

"Because everyone on his side doesn't use Unforgiveables, as a general rule," Freddie puts in.

"Yeah, that's crazy!" Lily says, and Albus can tell how much she's forcing herself to sound steady.

Rita sneers at them.

"You know," Scorpius says in a small voice, "I think if we all just talk this through—"

Without blinking, Avery says, "Crucio."

Albus hates himself for his cowardice, but he closes his eyes as Scorpius screams in pain. He forces his eyes open, and sees Scorpius, pale, looking up at him with wide eyes as Avery lifts his wand and releases the curse.

"It's your turn now, Potter," Avery continues, and directs his wand at Albus. Albus sees his mouth form the words Crucio again, and then he's hit by a terrible pain, white hot. It's the only thing he can think of, the thing that's consuming his entire body: there's just pain, pain, and nothing apart from that, and he screams, as loudly as he can, he screams, and he screams and he screams and –

And then, as suddenly as it began, it's over, leaving Albus shaking in his chair.

Nigel says, "And that's just a small taste of what will happen if—"

"Okay. Alright. That's enough," Albus's mum says. Her voice is angrier than Albus has ever heard it, but he can't look at her. He looks at Scorpius, at the tracks the tears have left on his cheek. Albus knows he's crying, too. He doesn't know what's worse: what he just felt, or the fact that Scorpius feels it, too.

"I agree," says another voice.

Albus uses the last of his energy to turn his head around as best as he can, and sees the most glorious, welcoming sight in the world:

His father silhouetted against the open doorway. There seem to be a few people behind him, but all Albus focuses on is his father, who says, "Stupefy," before Avery or Nigel or Rita can react. Avery falls to the ground, Stunned, and then Dad says, "Relashio." The bonds tying Albus to the chair release their hold on him, and he slumps in the chair.

He can hear voices: his uncle Ron, his aunt Hermione, Stunning Rita and Nigel, rushing over to them. Lily and Freddie and Jamie and what sounds like Leah, all talking over each other. His mum, who's saying, "Al!" Freddie, asking Scorpius if he's okay.

His dad reaches him first. He hugs Albus, tightly, and says, "You're okay now. It's okay, you're alright. It's all over."

Albus, relieved and exhausted and too in pain to think straight, closes his eyes, says, "I know," and then gives in to the fatigue and the pain and passes out in his father's arms.