The next evening after my uneventful patrol of the grounds and workday at the Ministry, I made my way up to the castle. The nostalgia of the school's corridors would have been more impactful if it weren't for the foreboding I felt determinedly heading towards my destination. I knew Tonks had come up to the castle several times during her rounds but this was the first time I had done so. It was the first time I had truly been back since being abducted and I hated that the twins weren't by my side. But I guess it didn't do well to pretend to be in the past when the present was so precarious.

I halted at the base of the steps when I realised I didn't know the password but was spared trying to figure it out when the staircase opened on its own accord. I figured that this was Dumbledore acknowledging to me that he knew I was here so I promptly entered his office instead of knocking at the top of the staircase.

"Marnie, good evening," Dumbledore greeted in his usual warm gesture.

He was seated behind his desk so I sat down opposite him, a chair I hadn't sat in near as many times as Harry must have. While I knew Dumbledore liked and cared about me like all his other students, I had figured out a long time ago that Harry was a special case. And I was happy that someone else noticed Harry for the boy in need instead of the hero the rest of the world had carved him out to be.

"I was surprised to get your letter, sir," I stated once I was seated across from him.

"Toffee?" Dumbledore offered instead of answering, gesturing to the bowl on his desk.

I shook my head, not really trusting candy ever since I unwillingly became intoxicated right before enduring a detention with Umbridge last year. I don't think Harry was really over that particular incident and the twins hadn't ever let me try anything new since. Surprisingly, Dumbledore smiled at this, a knowing expression on his face that never failed to amaze me just what this man was capable of picking up on. There was no way he knew the exact reason why I wouldn't accept the toffee but it wasn't unreasonable for him to assume that it was because of the twins.

"I must admit I might have taken your influence for granted while you were a student at this school. I fear to think how much trouble I would have heard about from Professor McGonagall in regard to her attempts to discipline both Mr. Weasley's. And well, I know Harry has come to rely on you quite resolutely," Dumbledore's expression turned at his own mention of Harry, making my stomach turn.

So, this was about Harry after all. Had something happened while I was at work or was this about the meetings Harry had cryptically been relaying to me through his letters.

"Do not worry, I have confidence that Harry is quite capable of getting his thoughts and emotions through to you via his letters, so I do not think there is any cause for us to discuss his struggles of carrying the weight of his public title around," Dumbledore's eyes were able to convey his sincerity, although it wasn't enough to take the complete strain out of my shoulders.

Thoughts of just how bad Harry had it were never far from my mind. And despite being best friends with the twins for all these years, I had always found it harder to be carefree in such a dangerous world. It was another reason I had found my own path of going into the Ministry because even though I knew the twins would always accept me into the shop, it wasn't a legacy I was fully comfortable carrying. They would bring laughter into the world and I would go on to try and protect those around me in other ways.

"I am sorry for calling you here after what I assume was a long day under Mr. Diggory's employ," Dumbledore's eyes turned sympathetically and for not the first time since taking the position, I felt my throat tighten with the particular events that had led me to where I was today.

If Cedric was here, things would be so very different.

Dumbledore did not comment of Cedric further however and I was always grateful that he was one of the so few who gave me the benefit of the doubt for being able to grieve a lost love at such a young age and still be able to carry on in the way only I knew how. This notion seemed to be lost on most other adults in my life.

"I only wanted to make the opportunity to tell you just how invaluable you are and how I have come to recognise that detail in Harry during our sessions to discuss his future," Dumbledore pressed on, but it only left me with far more questions than I had had when I first received his summons.

I gripped the arms of my chair and held Dumbledore's unwavering gaze before I exhaled the breath I hadn't realised I had been holding.

"Y—you called me here to tell me… what? That I'm a good sister to Harry and that I am a good friend enough to try and keep the twins out of detention?" I couldn't mask my disbelief and hoped that I didn't sound rude.

It wasn't like being a sister and a friend was hard work, even if the boys in my life kept me on my toes. They were equally as responsible for me being here as well, keeping me from living up to my own title that the public had given me. And while any praise from my old headmaster was always welcomed and coveted by any student who had had him previous, it was so unexpected that I couldn't believe it didn't have some hidden meaning.

Again, Dumbledore must have read my facial expressions or used Occlumency because his knowing smile returned.

"In my old age, I find that sometimes I forget to tell people what is the most important for them to hear before it is too late. I am afraid that in all of my actions towards you, that it may not have ever been timely enough. I do hope, Marnie, that you do not find my lateness to action has caused you far too much," Dumbledore's confession sent waves of anxiety through my mind that I hadn't felt in months.

These words brought Cedric to the forefront of my mind in a way that Dumbledore's previous mention of Mr. Diggory had not. But Cedric wasn't the only one who filled my agonised mind. Memories of living on the dungeon floor of the Malfoy Manor for two months brought pain to my nerves like phantom agony. My mother's vacant expression throughout my entire life settled into my restless nerves. Seeing Sirius' gray eyes turn lifeless took the breath out of my lungs; all things that I thought had been receding into the cracks of my healing mind. Even Flint's sneering face as he stuffed me into a cupboard brushed past my memory.

"Wh—why are you telling me this now? You already apologized to me before!" I asked, knowing I had never blamed Dumbledore for any of this, but it was a painful reminder of how things always seemed to go wrong even when intentions were good.

I remembered the short conversation we had back at Headquarters which felt like ages ago, but I had reassured Dumbledore then as well than I held no animosity. What was it about me that made someone like Dumbledore feel insecure that things were left unresolved.

Dumbledore sighed, bowing his head behind his glasses to look at me with something almost resembling regret. It was the most unsettling thing I had experienced thus far in the evening.

"You are correct, Marnie. I did seek you out before and felt an expected yet unearned sense that you had never been upset for me to even seek any forgiveness," Dumbledore's words were heavy and my mind was now swimming in murky thoughts that threatened to call on a breakdown that I staved off for months.

What had the headmaster so worried or discontent that had him mentioning all of this to me again, now?

"I do so apologise for bringing all of this up, Marnie. I know how suffocating it can be when all you want to do is prove yourself, which is the true reason I called you here tonight. Can you promise me that you will continue to recognise the same feeling in Harry and make sure that he does not lose himself in it, much like those around you have prevented you from doing?" Dumbledore finally spoke his intentions and they made even less sense to my drowning mind.

But I nodded anyways because it was all I could do. And when Dumbledore saw what must have been convincing agreement on my face, he stood up to bid me goodnight and excused me from his office. The twinkling had returned to his eyes, but it looked more resolute than before. It was almost unnerving, but I was far too exhausted and fading to make much sense of anything now.

It felt so much like a good-bye when I finally exited the headmaster's office and walked like an echo through the mostly vacant corridors and out onto the grounds. I knew Fred would sense my cracking if I went to the flat like I had meant to tonight, so instead I apparated to the Cottage. Dad wouldn't press me even if he did see my vacant expression and hopefully I could escape into my bedroom and sleep the rest of the night without the nightmares that I could already feel pulling at my mind without much incident.

I was met with some relief when it seemed my father was busy at the dining room table, looking over some papers that might have been either work or Order related. I waved at him when he looked up but thankfully there was enough distance between us that he couldn't read my face so easily over his reading glasses. And he was obviously too invested in the work he was doing to try and start a conversation so he let me go to my room without mention. He knew I had had a long day regardless, so it was a reprieve for me to just go silently upstairs.

I saw the light on underneath Remus's door and was surprised that he was home at all but didn't have the energy to knock. He would see through me just as easily as my father, so sidestepping that interaction was another blessing. Despite the whirling words of Dumbledore's surprising apology and those of people who were no longer living, I still felt the pull of restless sleep as soon as I fell onto my bed.

It was all too soon before I felt someone stirring me violently awake. My eyes shot open and my wand was pointed up at the person's throat more out of terrified reflex than anything else.

Several things were off, one of those things being Remus standing over my bed, not even flinching as his potentially unhinged niece held her wand up at him with the initial intent to maim. The second, as I lowered my wand, was that it was still night outside.

"We're being called to the school, the Death Eaters have managed to get inside Hogwarts," Remus' words were pain in my ears and had me pulling my robes over the rumpled clothing that I hadn't bothered taking off to go to sleep.

With my wand clenched in my hands and my trainers pulled back on my feet, I followed Remus out of my bedroom without any further hesitation. My mind was still blurry at its peripheries, panic and trauma threatening to take over but I focused on getting to Harry before any Death Eater could. Bellatrix wouldn't be the reason Harry was taken, and she sure as hell wasn't going to win from tormenting my mind after so many months had already went by.

"Marnie…" my father was waiting at the foot of the stairs and it was entirely plausible that he hadn't gone to sleep yet.

The dark circles under his eyes were prominent and the expression he was wearing was the same one I has seen through my mother's dreams. It was a pleading expression, one that begged I stay behind even though he knew I wouldn't. I expected him to ask anyways, like he had my mother all those years ago. But this time he only let a few tears fall down his face and he grabbed me into a fierce hug, one filled with terrified resolve.

"Bring him home," my father's whisper was directed at Remus just as much as it was at me.

It was then that I thought about what my father must have said to Sirius who went to the Department of Mysteries to bring me and Harry home. What he must have told Mr. Weasley who went on the raid of Malfoy Manor to bring me home.

I nodded sharply once I pried myself out of my father's grasp, not trusting myself to speak while my mind still felt sharp and threatening from my conversation with Dumbledore. The fact that this was happening in the same night was daunting in itself, making his words sink in like the goodbye it had felt like at the time. Was I one of Dumbledore's last loose ends? I shook my head, unable to indulge my whirling mind and followed Remus out the door instead.

I apparated as soon as I was outside the wards, following half a second after Remus. The grounds of the school were quiet, too quiet since Tonks and Bill were have supposed to be on duty. That thought was not good for the scraping of my thoughts, but sheer will kept my feet running until Remus and I entered the school. Fortunately, or unfortunately, however you looked at it, loud shouts led our journey into the school near the Astronomy Tower. It was in the corridor, where I had once fallen petrified, that I finally found some familiar faces.

Order members and students alike faced off against Death Eaters much like it had been at the Department of Mysteries. Ginny and Neville fought against a pair who were most likely siblings, one squealing like a pig when she took a hit from a curse in the stomach. The push to protect brought my wand forward as I looked through the fray for a familiar pop of red hair, no doubt the twins were somewhere here as well. I was stopped from my progress though when I deflected a curse coming from the Death Eater's avenging brother. Ginny came up beside me, only exclaiming my name in relief of having more reinforcements before we were able to stave off his advances before he fell petrified to the ground. It was satisfying to see such a twisted sort of irony of someone being petrified here, but my attention pulled when Harry bolted past.

"Harry!" I shouted after him but he only managed to turn his head back while he kept his forward pursuit.

Instead of struggling to figure out what he was doing, I reacted to the dire expression he wore and followed him back out towards the grounds. I was finally able to see Fred and George who were squaring off against a fairly large looking man while their brother Bill fought beside them against a man who I felt sickened by his very existence; Fenrir Greyback.

I had wanted to follow Harry without gaining their attention to avoid distracting their focus, but of course Fred always was caught by my presence and gave me a surprised look that told me he had not expected my presence and was apprehensive that I was here at all.

"Hare!" his exclamation was as much a call out as it was a warning to keep following Harry, out of imminent harm's way.

I felt even more pulling at my mind, hoping that following after Harry wouldn't lead me to regret leaving Fred behind. But he had George and Bill with him and I would trust his judgement to keep my promise, to myself and Dumbledore apparently, of keeping Harry safe. Where was Dumbledore even, anyways? It seemed wholly unlikely that he would be absent during a direct attack on the school.

But it was the unnervingly familiar voice cackling that finally snapped my pieced together resolve once Harry and I raced out onto the grounds. What she was saying couldn't be true, it was impossible to even conceive it.

"Dumbledore is dead! Praise the Dark Lord, no one will dare defy him now!"

The mere stipulation that Dumbledore was dead was such a ludicrous reality that I could not accept. Even the pained tension in Harry's shoulders and his lack of refutation didn't temper the cracking of my thoughts or my stubborn will to believe the lie.

To be able to keep going, I now only let myself focus on Harry who was still going after the appalling mess of curly black hair. Despite never wanting to see that vile woman again, I pushed my feet to take me where my mind was refusing to go. I couldn't let her capture Harry like she had done with me only a year ago. I couldn't let him suffer any similar fate or be goaded along to his death that Voldemort so desperately wanted. My eyes refocused once I was running across the grounds, narrowing in on the familiar back of unruly dark hair that brought me a sliver of comfort in this increasingly heightened nightmare. I could feel the threads of my sanity now pulling roughly on the edges of my mind, but Harry's safety was more important than letting myself succumb to my sickness.

Harry looked like he was chasing after something—or someone—and I forced myself to look up despite all the fierce warnings going off inside my head. Like a sharp impact, I saw Draco Malfoy being led away by his deranged aunt, the woman who locked eyes with me with a disturbing playful look that told me she wanted more. My nausea blocked out the taunts she was no doubt calling out, so I allowed my own physiology to pry my eyes away from my previous captor onto the man who had apparently been my saviour. This night seemed to be full of lies, lies that were quickly unraveling the fragile wall I had been working so hard to build over the past year. There was no way Dumbledore could be dead and there was certainly no way Severus Snape had betrayed the one man who put his utmost faith in him when everyone else in the Order regarded him with high scepticism. I had even swallowed all of my reservations the day Severus Snape rescued me from my torture chamber at Malfoy Manor.

But I was now staring at Severus Snape who had a protective hand over Draco Malfoy's shoulder as he turned around and aimed a curse at Harry. Pushing myself to hold onto my sanity just a little longer, I ran forward and put up a shield charm since Harry was too busy sending offensive spells to see that Snape's was going to hit him. I felt Snape's curse hit my shield spell before I shared one last fleeting look with my old Potion's master and he disappeared on the other side of Hogwarts's wards.

Harry had stopped at the realisation that someone had cast a shield spell in front of him but had yet to turn back to see who it was; Harry hadn't looked behind him ever since we passed the twins on the corridor. He was too busy standing still, seething pain wafting off of him that I wanted to try and comfort away. If the lies weren't actually lies, then Harry had just lost another person he looked up to, and we still weren't over losing Sirius.

But my legs would no longer carry on as my mind took over. Bellatrix's bloodlust expression flooded back across my vision as my periphery went dark. I could no longer see my brother standing a few yards in front of me, but only felt as my legs gave out onto the damp grass. I could also hear someone screaming, like they were being tortured and I wondered who else Bellatrix had in the next room. I shivered violently, knowing once she was done torturing that poor person as an appetizer, she would find me for her main course.

But I wasn't in Malfoy Manor, was I? I could no longer remember where I was or see my surroundings, only the dark eyes of a crazed psychopath taking enjoyment in watching me unravel into insanity.

But someone's voice somehow spoke over the screaming. The screaming stopped and I thought vaguely that I could have been the one screaming.

"Le—Lena Tr—Tress is my mo—mother," I started whispering, forcing my brain into my mantra that always kept me from completely diving into the depths of my unraveled misery.

"Jo—ss O'Hara is my fa—father."

A pair of arms circled around me, but I wondered if they had been there for a while now since the screaming had stopped and my body had warmed considerably. I stopped whispering, trying to get my vision to work properly to see who was holding me so tightly. I started thrashing around, trying to free my hands but the arms only tightened.

"Angelina Johnson is your—" someone's voice broke again into my mind, causing me to doubt if I had been speaking the mantra before or if it had been this other voice that sounded just as broken as I felt.

"My friend."

A sigh exhaled near my shoulder, telling me that the person sounded relieved so I let myself feel relieved as well. Although I was lost in a pit of darkness, these arms now felt secure instead of stifling.

"Remus Lupin is—"

"My uncle."

"Minerva McGonagall is—"

"My professor."

"Harry Potter is—"

I choked on my answer, surprised at the sudden clarity in my vision as the voice that filled my head finally had a name. I could suddenly recognise that the arms that were protectively over my shoulders belonged to the same person I had made sure to save before I crashed down into the dark pit.

"M—my brother."

"That's right, Marnie, I'm your brother," Harry choked out the sentence, sounding like he said it to reassure himself about something as much as he was trying to comfort me.

"Come on, we should head inside," I heard another voice say quietly from above.

I snapped my head, causing Harry to keep hold of my shoulders to prevent me from startling into another fit. Looking up though, my vision was completely back now and I could see Remus was looking ghost white with Tonks and Fred beside him. It had been Remus who spoke and he appeared ages older looking down at Harry and I deflated on the ground.

"She wasn't ready," Remus growled, suddenly looking frustrated and overwhelmed which I wasn't used to.

I still couldn't speak more than the two words it took to complete Harry's grounding phrases. But my mind was clueing in that Remus was talking about me.

"Joss was right, look at what the hell happened!"

"Marnie is the reason I'm still alive!" Harry shouted back, apparently taking the opposite opinion of our guardians that I wasn't fit for battle. "She only broke down after she and bloody Snape disappeared with Malfoy. It's my fault, I was too angry to see that Snape aimed a curse at me and Marnie saved me. So don't—" but Harry was cut off from their sudden collective, sharp inhale.

"Snape? Severus attacked you?" Remus was obviously perplexed, but not as much as Harry whose fingers were unconsciously digging into my arms.

I winced but didn't say anything, allowing myself to absorb some of Harry's pain like he had mine. But Fred must have caught it since he came over and bent down on my other side, opposite of Harry.

"Let her go, mate, we have to get inside now," Fred's voice was definitive and sad, but not angry with Harry.

"What's wrong?" I allowed myself to speak since it was only two words, an amount I knew I could handle.

Fred sighed but didn't deny that something else wasn't wrong.

"It's Bill… Greyback scratched him."