"And if her Morrígan comes, we'll be ready," said Albus as we watched Astoria struggling to maintain her dignity as she was hauled away. "Won't we, Scor?"

"Yeah," he said shakily. "We can find them. The stones."

"There's a ruby on the pommel of the Sword of Gryffindor," I said, remembering how Dad and I had used it to summon fire. "There's the green stone that summons ice, but that's broken. So we need two more, probably wind and earth?"

Scorpius frowned as we filed out of the courtroom. "Yeah, yeah. We've got one, and a half. We've got to find the rest, before Morgan gets a chance to come back and cause more havoc."

This isn't a victory, I thought. Everyone around us looked unsettled and unhappy, even though Astoria had been convicted successfully and easily, and I found myself loathing the battle that would surely follow.

"We're going to find them," said James. "We've got to—"

"Go on a fetch quest to find these jewels of whatever?" Albus yawned.

But for now, I wanted to spend one last moment of peace with my brothers and Scorpius.

"Yeah," I said as Scorpius unexpectedly slung an arm around my shoulders, and I felt my heart go all happy and light. "Starting tomorrow."


Chapter 23: Tomorrow, There'll Be Sun

As it happened, tomorrow began with a Floo trip back to Hogwarts (which led to my allergies playing up, but I suppose some things can't be helped).

However, the resulting fit of sneezing and sniffling felt like a bad omen. At the very least, it made me feel distinctly miserable as Dad, Teddy, James, Rhys, Albus, Aurelie, Scorpius, and I sat in Headmistress McGonagall's office.

Headmistress McGonagall frowned, shifting a stack of papers on her desk. I slouched in my chair. Mum had already yelled at us for being reckless yesterday, after the trial, and I wasn't in the mood to be reprimanded once again.

Yet, Mum's yelling wasn't as bad as Dad's quiet, silent disappointment. That was what had kept me up, last night — the guilt clawing away at my stomach as I stared out at the star-lit sky outside my window.

"James, Albus, and Lily. I really don't know what to say to you three. You have broken so many school rules that I should really put you in detention for at least the remainder of the semester and revoke James's TA position," said McGonagall, fixing her stern gaze on each of us in turn. I slumped lower in the chair, thinking sorrowfully of my unfortunately detailed history of detention with Magellan. Scrubbing cauldrons for the rest of my time at Hogwarts, it is.

"And you, Scorpius," she said, turning to glare at him, too. "What you did with the Wolfsbane was incredibly dangerous, and quite frankly, I should expel you."

Albus's eyes narrowed. "It was you?" he said with a sneer, turning on Scorpius. James started to get out of his chair, but Dad put a hand on his shoulder to stop him.

I had almost forgotten that nightmare — Rhys transforming into a snarling, growling werewolf right before our eyes, tearing at James's shield, the desperation to get into McGonagall's office. No, it hadn't been an accident, had it? Rhys had been there for a reason.

But how did Scorpius know that we would be trying to get into her office.

"What was he even doing here?"

"Snooping. Same as us. Look, Al, he's going to be fine."

And I had just brushed it off. He wasn't fine. How could I have been so selfish?

Scorpius crossed his arms. "Look, I know it seems dangerous, but I had just figured what Astoria did and where the Sorting Hat was, and I panicked."

Of course. Scorpius knew we were in the basement. He must have been investigating the Malfoy Problem, too... from the inside.

Rhys nodded. "Professor, you should know that I agreed to it."

"What?" Albus leapt to his feet, ignoring Dad's protests. "Why would you do that?"

Rhys shrugged. He looked even more tired than usual. The transformation must have taken a lot out of him.

"Scorpius explained that you, James, and Lily were in trouble. I was really skeptical at first, but I let Scorpius dilute the Wolfsbane since we decided that would reduce the risk of you getting infected and you falling into Astoria's trap. Stalling you would have been invaluable. I was willing to accept the risk."

He knew about it, too? Why did Scorpius tell Rhys, and not us?

"There wasn't time," said Scorpius. "Professor, I'd just figured it out that very night, and I ran into Rhys on the stairs. Please, you have to believe me."

Headmistress McGonagall looked surprised. "And I suppose you also have an answer to why no one consulted an adult?"

Scorpius heaved a very familiar book onto the table. "I do."

Dad picked up the book, tapping his wand to it and frowning, just as McGonagall did. We all turned to watch him, and I held my breath.

"You don't see this kind of Dark magic very often," he said slowly, with what sounded like a grudging kind of respect. "A compulsion curse. Clever."

Teddy piped up. He had been unusually quiet for the past twenty-four hours, though the grim demeanor from before was slowly dissipating.

"I tested the Sorting Hat and the Mirror of Erised, and they both contained traces of Dark magic, too."

James sounded bitter. "What didn't Astoria think of?"

I frowned. It all made sense now. The obsession, and the secrecy, and the idiotic, reckless behavior that we'd all indulged in.

"I can't believe we fell for that."

Albus put his head in his hands. "This is all my fault, I should never have taken the book out of the library. If I hadn't, this would never have happened!"

"I'm the one who said we should try to solve the puzzle, it's my fault," I said, though internally, I was relieved. The guilt wasn't fully mine, was it? It was the book — the Sorting Hat had called to me, spoken to me, just as Albus had been strangely drawn to the Mirror of Erised.

"No, it's mine," said James. "I'm the adult and I should be responsible."

Professor McGonagall looked amused. "You three are not the first by far to pick up a magical artifact and get more than you bargained for. I think your mother should be able to tell you a story about that."

"What?"

Dad smiled faintly. The expression looked far-away, and more rueful than anything else.

"Ask her when you get home for the summer. It's a long story."

"You are all in detention with Professor Magellan for the rest of the semester, except Aurelie. James is clearly excused since he is no longer a student."

I groaned, much to the amusement of Albus and Scorpius. Let them laugh, they won't be when it's them scrubbing cauldrons and organizing musty ingredients.

"If you want me to give up the TA position-" James started, putting on his best contrite face — which he had honed since we were kids — Mum, Dad, the vase was an accident, I swear I didn't break it, my back was turned when it fell.

"Nonsense. You will continue teaching."

He sighed in relief.

"However, you are not off the hook. You will be administering the end-of-year exams in Professor Clearwater's stead, and managing her private studies."

Albus sniggered and James groaned.

I sighed deeply as we left the office. Dad, Aurelie, and Teddy remained.

Poor girl. She must be completely traumatized.

How can a mother do that to her children?

"Well, all things equal, I think we got off pretty easy," said Rhys.

"Excuse me?" James protested. "Do you begin to understand the torture that is study hall? Do you know how hard it is to deal with a room full of little prats who would rather be doing anything but studying quietly?"

There was a loud crash behind us, and James, Rhys, and I turned to watch Albus yelling at Scorpius, which was quite a rare sight.

"You put four people in danger, you sick bastard!" Albus was furious, and I realized, so was I.

"Yeah, are you serious, Malfoy? We all could have been killed!" I snapped, striding forward towards Scorpius, James trailing behind me.

James crossed his arms, glaring at Scorpius, who, to his credit, looked unaffected by all three of us angrily staring him down.

"Don't even let me start," spat James. "because if I start on him, you know I'm not finishing."

"Did you even consider Rhys in all of this?" asked Albus.

"You had a better chance surviving a minor werewolf attack than Morgan!"

Of course, Scorpius had some way to justify it.

"How could you take that kind of risk?" I asked, shaking my head in disbelief.

Rhys ran a shaky hand through his hair. He really looked like he hadn't slept; his hair stood on end, his movements were disfluent, and there were dark circles under his eyes.

"It was a risky move," he said, his voice thin and strained, "but if it was successful it would have been worth it."

"Well, you're hurt." Albus grabbed Rhys's hand, his concern clearly outweighing his usual fear of emotional displays as he assessed the fresh scars on Rhys's arms.

"I'll heal," he protested, attempting to pull his sleeves down.

"Did you get Madame Pomfrey to look at—"

Rhys pulled his sleeves back down. "I promise I'm fine," he said, in an approximation of his Quidditch Captain voice. "Stop worrying about me."

"Rhys, you have red welts over your arms, and half of them look like they could be infected. You are not fucking fine."

"Sure."

Scorpius stuck his hands in his pockets, looking between the four of us uneasily. "Look, Al, I'm sorry."

He glared at his best freind. "I'm not the only person you need to apologize to."

Scorpius sighed. "Lily, James, Rhys. I was just trying to help. You can't deny that if it had gone right, none of you would have been in danger."

I couldn't stop the sarcastic retort from coming out of my mouth. "Oh, there wasn't another way to stall us that didn't involve putting four people in danger?"

"Maybe. Look, I've said I'm sorry, what do you want me to do?"

Albus shook his head and began to forcibly drag Rhys towards the Hospital Wing.

I wondered when the two idiots would ever get the message.

"All's well that end's well?" asked Scorpius as we watched them leave..

"We've still got Morgan to worry about. And the jewels." I shuddered. "And homework. And finals."

James grinned. "Well, future me may have ninety-nine problems, but present me has none. I say we go to Hogsmeade."

"You're a really responsible older brother, James."

"Yeah, I know. Coming, Malfoy?"

Just then, Carla, Lysander, and Hugo came sprinting down the hallway.

"What were you thinking, Lily?"

"Hu, you're crushing me!"

Lysander frowned, his twin sun and moon earrings quivering as he hugged me, and then James, and then a very surprised Scorpius. "I can't believe you didn't tell me anything!"

Everyone stared at him blankly.

"What? I'm always up for trouble. And riddles."

"Where's everyone else?"

"Maddie's sick in the Hospital Wing, she's got the flu. Rose and Lorcan have prefect stuff right now — yes, Malfoy, some prefects actually do their duties," said Carla, trying to sound professional as usual, but unable to conceal her smile. She punched me in the arm. "You three scared us, you idiots! We were all so scared when Ly got your message."

"Ly saved us," I said, grinning up at him. "If I didn't have the bird you gave me, the Aurors never would have gotten to us in time."

James gasped. "Lewis, please don't tell me you skived off class?"

She glared at him. "And?"

James put a hand over his heart. "I'm honored. Hugo and Lysander were probably eager for an excuse, but you? That's unheard of."

"I'm not here for you," she said.

"Oooooh—"

"Shut it, Malfoy!"

Hugo grinned as Lysander slung his arm around my shoulders. "She skipped Charms."

"Quelle horreur."

"Do you have anything better do to than make fun of me?"

I rolled my eyes. "Let's go to the Hospital Wing, then."Maddie cheered as we entered the Hospital Wing. Madam Pomfrey looked miffed at the amount of people gathered around the bed, but didn't have the heart to tell us to get to class.

Rhys was sitting on the bed opposite as Madam Pomfrey attended to his injuries. Albus looked only slightly placated. Rose and Lorcan had joined us in the past hour.

"For the last time, Al, I'm fine," he insisted. "Stop fussing."

Finally, everyone was safe, and there were no more secrets, for now, at least.

I sighed. "On a scale of one to ten, how sad do you think Moaning Myrtle will be that James didn't manage to die?"

Hugo snorted. "She'll be absolutely heartbroken. You have to let me tell her."

"I think we should talk about these jewels, or gems, or whatever they are," said Rose. "Malfoy?"

He smirked at her. "She-Weasel."

Rose groaned.

"Right." He produced the splintered green brooch from the pocket of his robes. "Exhibit A. Mordred's Tear. It belonged to Salazar Slytherin."

"Goblin-made?" asked James, peering closer at it.

"No," said Scorpius. "This stone was discovered, not made, along with three others. A ruby, which is on the pommel of the Sword of Gryffindor—"

"And that gives you the ability to control fire, doesn't it?" I interrupted. "But when you used the brooch, you absorbed the jewel's power, didn't you? It was different from what Dad and I did with the sword."

"Mordred's blood," Scorpius explained. "My magic is more similar — it resonates with the magic in the stone."

"Oh!" said Carla excitedly. "Sorry, Lil got me into researching magical theory. That means that the frequencies of your magical energy is a whole-number multiple of that of the jewel's, so the amplitude — you and the jewel feed each other, giving the correct wielder both a high degree of control and power," she finished breathlessly. James's eyes looked glazed.

"Um, something like that," said Scorpius, looking bewildered. "Yeah. It's that and the ruby on the Sword of Gryffindor."

"So, where are the other two?" asked Hugo. "Any ideas?"

"Air and earth," I said slowly. "That's it! They're all pure Elemental magic, aren't they? If there are two that control fire and ice—"

"—then it follows that two control air and earth," said Rose, scrunching her nose in concentration. "Yeah, but that doesn't really help us much. We can't just test every rock in the world for those affinities."

"We don't have to!" said Lorcan excitedly. "Ly, tell them!"

"Ravenclaw's Diadem!" said Lysander, equally excited.

The room was completely silent.

"You mean Ravenclaw's lost Diadem," said Rose, and my heart sunk. "It's makes sense, since the other two have to do with the Founders. But no one's seen it, since like, the tenth century."

"Let's ask the Grey Lady," said Lysander. We all stared at him blankly, except for Lorcan.

"The Grey Lady?" Scorpius finally repeated.

"Yeah, the Ravenclaw House ghost. She's quite shy, so just two people should come with me. How about Scorpius and Lily?"

We awkwardly got to our feet and followed after Lysander. The two of us hadn't spoken amicably since what felt like forever. Lysander's chittering as we climbed the steps up to Ravenclaw Tower helped to diffuse the awkwardness, but not the silent tension between us.

Maybe it will get better. Give it time, I reminded myself as we reached the top of the tower, the chill spring wind blowing unrelentingly as I caught sight of the outline of a tall, stately witch with waist-length hair and a long cloak.

"Good evening, Helena," said Lysander quietly. Scorpius and I stayed back and watched him approach the Grey Lady.

"Looking at the stars?" he continued. "They're quite pretty tonight; but the view is better from the Astronomy Tower, of course. I'm looking for something lost — I was wondering if you'd seen it somewhere?"

"What?" asked the Grey Lady quietly, casting a wary glance at me and Scorpius.

"They're friends," said Lysander. "I trust them."

"What are you looking for, Lysander?" she asked carefully.

"Please don't be angry. I was curious about the Diadem."

She hissed; surprisingly terrifying for such a timid ghost. "Generations of students have badgered me—"

"It's important!" I interrupted, stepping forward. "Morgan — The Morrígan has returned! We need it to stop her! The jewel, it can help us, right?"

The Grey Lady looked frightened, then angry. I drew back in anticipation for the Bloody-Baron-esque rage that was sure to follow.

"Yes," she said calmly. I relaxed. "I know where it is, or at least, where it was. It was in the Room of Hidden Things, the night of the Battle of Hogwarts."

"Dad told me about that," Scorpius said, and I nearly jumped in surprise. "But he never said where it was; said some things are best forgotten, apparently, and he's not likely to budge on that."

"But it's a lead," I insisted, grinning. "It's something. Thank you so much, er, Helena."

She smiled almost imperceptibly.

We went down the stairs, and somehow, the tension between Scorpius and I started to finally diffuse.

"Where d'you think it is?"

"I'll have to look at the Marauder's Map. There are so many hidden passageways, it's got to be on there."

"Maybe it's in a bathroom, like the Chamber of Secrets!"

"I'll tell Dad everything, this time."

Though the future was uncertain and the Morrígan would soon return, at least we had hope.


Thank you so much for sticking around to the last chapter, and for the lovely reviews! This is the longest thing I've written on here, ever, and it's so weird to hit Complete after only a few months after returning to FFN after a super-long hiatus.

If it feels like I've left a lot of threads hanging, that's because...

... The sequel, Underestimated, is coming to a URL near you as soon as I get the chapter backlog sorted out.

Tensions rise as wizarding Britain quarrels about how to deal with the return of the ancestral witch, and both the Malfoy and Potter families find themselves embroiled in the political struggle. Lily Luna Potter tries to determine friend from foe as she returns to Hogwarts for her fifth year. Scorpius Malfoy is acting very odd, and Lily's convinced that he's hiding something important. She's going to need all the help that she can get to stop the Morrigan, and the first order of business is to find Ravenclaw's lost diadem.

I've just started posting another WIP last month (Running From My Destiny, the setting and tone is quite a bit darker than Unremarkable and it's set in the Hogwarts Era and already 21k published), so tentatively the release date for Underestimated is March 2nd. But please do keep an eye out for it if you enjoyed Unremarkable!

Thanks again, and Lily hopes that you'll join us for Underestimated!