AN: Guys I am SO sorry that this chapter is so late, and it's not even that long. I've been sitting my GCSEs at the moment and my motivation to write has gone out the window. Thank you for sticking with this; you're all brilliant. Please review :)

Chapter Twenty
Of Trust and Sand

"You're looking happier." Isla commented as Jayna sat down next to her. Lydjah, unsurprisingly, was skipping the class again. Jayna shrugged, putting her bag down and rolling up the sleeves of her robe.

"I made up with my sister. Not wholly but," Jayna attempted a smile, "It's a starting point." Isla smiled back.

"Glad to hear it." She paused before saying delicately. "I don't mean to be blunt Jayna but you do still look rather ill though."

"I know. I- Madam Pomfrey wants me to go to St Mungos." Jayna said, keeping her voice low. Isla blinked.

"It's that bad?"

"Good old PTSD, ruining my life." Jayna cracked. Isla didn't laugh. Jayna's chuckle faded to a sad smile. "I know it's not funny. It's just rather easier to deal with if I'm not scared of it."

"Scared of it? What's 'it'?" Jayna tried to focus her sight on Isla but her gaze kept sliding off. Isla grabbed her arms as she started to fall out of her seat, worry evident in her eyes. Jayna waved an unsteady dismissive hand.

"M'fine." She slurred. "I don't know why I'm suddenly… So… Sleepy…" Jayna yawned and blinked slowly, trying to keep her eyes open.

"Jayna I think you need to go to the Hospital Wing."

"Oh." Jayna said very softly and then toppled forwards, her head smacking into Isla's shoulder as her eyes closed.

I… I don't know where I am. I was at Hogwarts… Isla- Who's Isla?

"What's 'it'?" That voice… I know that voice…

"M'fine." I know where I am. Mother's face swims into focus as she strokes my hair. She's not usually this affectionate, but I scared her today I think. Strange; I don't even remember falling down the stairs. I must have done though as Grandfather says he tried to catch me. I want to smooth the frown lines from Mother's forehead and tell her not to be cross with him but… "I don't know why I'm suddenly… So… Sleepy." I manage. Mother tries to smile at me.

"C'est probablement une commotion." She says, quietly. "Ne ferme pas les yeux, Jayney."

"Oh. Qu'est-ce qu'une… 'comoton'?"

"Une commotion." She corrected. "C'est lorsque tu te cognes la tête assez violemment."

"Je ne me suis pas cogné la tête." Mother narrows her eyes at my blurted out comment.

"Vraiment?" My stomach drops, suddenly wide awake, my heart in my throat as I remember.

"No Mum-" I revert back to English in my panic, fear rising in my throat as I push myself up on my elbows to look at her properly, "He hit me- Mum, Grandfather hit me I can't do what he wants anymore, I can't I can't I can't-" I chant hysterically, my voice rising. I cut myself off as I feel a chill from the now-open door and light spills into my room.

"Roland-" My Mother starts rising from her chair, hand going to her wand. I close my eyes, turning away from him, tears welling in my eyes and leaking down my cheeks as I waited for the achingly familiar words.

"Obliviate!"

"We've really got to stop meeting up like this." Jayna cracked her eyes open. James sat on the end of 'her' Hospital-Wing bed, alone, snacking on some Honeydukes chocolate. She suspected it might have been hers. The Hospital Wing was not empty this time; but Jayna could not see who was behind the curtains that covered the bed across from hers. She did wonder why this bed had become the one she always used; it wasn't close to the door. "You really scared Isla. Honestly. No consideration for other people." Jayna couldn't manage anything wittier than a roll of her eyes. "What happened? Did you just collapse from exhaustion?" Jayna knew he wouldn't believe that for one second if she tried to lie to him.

"No, another memory."

"Really? You didn't have a fit like the other times you've passed out."

"It was more like a bittersweet dream than a nightmare."

"Want to talk about it?" James asked eventually, not looking at her. Jayna paused.

"Not really." She replied, carefully, hesitantly, the atmosphere between them one she wasn't used to. James didn't do serious with her. Jayna had accepted he didn't really take her seriously ever. She knew he cared… Knew that he considered her to be a friend… But he always tried to keep it light between them. Sometimes she appreciated it; when the rest of the world seemed to talk to her like the apocalypse was going to happen at any moment. Sometimes… Sometimes she wondered what it would be like for James Potter to stare at her with depth in his gaze, like he'd cherish the time they had together.

She wondered what it would be like if his gaze mirrored hers.

"You've got to talk about it at some point you know." James said, still concentrating on his chocolate. Jayna didn't reply.

James finished off the chocolates and stood, without another word, and walked to the Hospital Wing doors, letting them swing shut behind him. Jayna had an uneasy feeling that something had just changed between them, and she wasn't entirely sure she liked it.

James Potter glared angrily at the wall opposite the Hospital Wing doors for a full minute after they swung shut behind him.

It had been a stupid idea, but he'd honestly thought that maybe Blackwood would open up to him if he came on his own… And even though it hadn't worked he felt a sick feeling churning in his stomach as he realised that what he'd been planning on doing was messing with Jayna's feelings in order to understand Jayna's… Feelings. Now he was just confusing himself.

"I'm not going to say I told you so Dwp but…" James didn't jump at Sam's voice; he'd heard her familiar footsteps a mile away.

"I just thought that, you know, because she… Likes me I might be able to get her to spill. It's not healthy what she's doing now Sam. Look at her! She looks like she has one foot in the grave already."

"It's also not healthy to manipulate one of your best friends' emotions just because you want answers." Sam pointed out gently. "I know you're worried; we all are. But all we can do is be supportive."

"Maybe we're not being supportive enough though! What if she thinks that we think the Secret is more important than her; what if she thinks that she's only important because of what she remembers?!" James felt like hitting something in frustration.

"James I know it's hard seeing someone in pain and not being able to do anything-"

"She's not just someone! She's- She's-" He struggled for adequate words, "She's Blackwood! She's clever and pretentious and generous and scary. She's my friend Sam." He took a long-suffering breath. "She's my friend." He hung his head. Sam put a hand on his shoulder, gripping it tightly till he looked up again.

"Jayna needs you to just be there for her right now. That is what you have to do. Even though it's painful to watch her deteriorate, even though you want to shake the truth out of her; you have to just be there. Let her work through it James. Let her be." James let himself lean into Sam's hand for a second, momentary weakness, and then stood up straight and nodded. "Do you…" Sam trailed off.

"What?" Sam looked at him and then shook her head.

"Do you want to go flying?" James made a noise of agreement and they walked away, not looking back at the Hospital Wing, or the girl inside who'd heard every word.

You don't want to be heard

"Wands out everyone." Lydjah called tiredly. The two Ravenclaws made a right pair; Jayna, slightly malnourished and shaken, and Lydjah, pale and haunted. Lydjah was leaning lightly on Jayna, having been ill for most of the week. Despite everyone's protests she had insisted on coming to the Trials and had glared at the seven in them in turn when they tried to talk her out of it.

She led the way in. They were met, again, with the empty room and the locked door. James and Sam sighed unanimously. It wasn't as if they wanted to be fighting for their lives every weekend but… The Trials had almost become boring.

"I'm thinking muffling spell and Imperturbable charm?" Albus said. Before the rest of them could do more than nod, the two Hufflepuffs cast the spells, and the door swung open again.

"I swear I've probably lost more calories walking down to this bloody room than I have at Quidditch practice." Sam grumbled.

"I don't know; Chloe is pretty relentless."

"I know; the look on her face when Fred called her Nutty's girl-"

"I thought she was going to murder him with his own bat."

"I'm going to St Mungos." Jayna announced, cutting through their light-hearted banter. She looked down at her shoes.

"Good." James said roughly.

"I can't talk about it with you- with you guys," She amended quickly, hoping her blush wouldn't give it away, "but I hope maybe someone there- maybe someone there can help." She bit her lip. "And… I just wanted to thank you all. For giving me space. I know it's difficult." Scorpius nodded at her, and she managed a small smile.

"When are you going?" Jayna didn't look at James as he spoke, starting to walk off again.

"After the Trial tomorrow."

"When will you be back?" He fired back, a little trickle of concern leaking into his voice, and confusion at her refusal to look at him.

"I don't know. I don't think I'm staying at St Mungos."

"Why not?"

"St Mungos doesn't do mental health. It may be magic that caused my- my issues but it's the issues that are affecting me now." Sam shot him a look as he opened his mouth to ask another question. He ground his teeth together, but kept silent.

Slowly Jayna fell back into step with him, until they were walking side by side at the back of the group. Without warning she stopped, grabbing his arm to stop him as well.

"What-"

She cut him off by throwing her arms round him and squeezing him tight. He froze, confused, as she hugged him more strongly that she ever had before, going as far to bury her head in his jumper. Before he realised what he was doing his arms snapped up to hug her back just as fiercely, pretending he couldn't feel her shoulder blades through her robes, resting his chin on top of her head, chuckling at their height difference. He just knew Jayna was scowling at him.

"Wow you really meant right after the trial huh?" Albus mused as Jayna wandered down to the Secret room, a sizeable bag in her hands, and wearing casual robes instead of her school ones. She'd pinned one side of her hair up with a flower clip. It struck the seven of them then, just how young Jayna was when her Grandfather started torturing her. She was only a kid now, let alone then.

"Don't give me that look you guys. Let's go." She said, with a small smile, placing her bag outside the door.

Riddle me this

"Guessing the Ravenclaws are taking this one." James said, after reading out the clue. Jayna pulled a face.

"Jay-Jay's terrible at riddles." Lydjah interjected. "But probably still better than you lot." The eight of them filed into the room, the expected click of the door locking behind them.

Albus felt his heart thunder in his chest as the eight of them stared up at the giant beast in front of them. It had the face of a woman, but the body of a lion, golden fur climbing up all the way to her chin.

"Sphinx." Scorpius hissed, between his teeth. Albus swallowed.

"So. Er. I guess we ask for the riddle?" James piped up.

"Hey!" Sam yelled. "What do you want?" The other seven stared at her in horror. She shrugged. "Better cut to the chase." Scorpius frowned, assuming it was a Quidditch metaphor.

The Sphinx didn't respond.

"I don't think she can hear us." Scorpius mused, almost absently. They looked at him.

"Sonorus!" Albus said, pointing at Sam's throat.

"WHAT THE-" Sam cut herself off as her voice echoed around the chamber. The Sphinx looked down at them, baring her teeth.

"Shit." Lydjah whispered.

"ERM CAN WE HAVE YOUR RIDDLE PLEASE?" Sam asked, looking appropriately terrified as the Sphinx snarled at them. The Sphinx licked her lips.

"The first is a thorn, a seed,
That has teeth as sharp as me,
The last is the last to send,
The middle of middle and the end of end."

Before the eight of them could do more than absorb the words, Sam, James, Molly, Lien, Jayna and Lydjah found themselves trapped behind a giant glass wall.

"WHAT?" Sam asked, confused. The other five covered their ears in pain.

"Quietus!" Jayna hissed, putting Sam's voice back at normal volume.

That's when the sand began to fall.

The six trapped friends looked up, seeing their glass prison actually formed a dome high above them, where sand was rapidly falling down to a pile in the centre.

"Are we in an hourglass?" Lien whispered.

It took ten seconds for the sand to cover their feet.

"Guys we've got to keep on top of the sand-" Sam began, stopping herself as she realised she couldn't lift her feet up above the sand, no matter how much she strained.

"Quick sand?" Lien asked, grimly. They turned panicked eyes to Scorpius and Albus who were staring at them in horror.

"Answer my riddle." The Sphinx suggested, in a bored tone of voice. Scorpius and Albus shared a look.

"A seed that has teeth?" Albus said, slightly hysterically. "Seeds don't have teeth!"

"The last to send? Some kind of really shitty owl?" Scorpius bounced back, pacing. The Slytherins could not hear their friends behind the glass; it was entirely up to them.

"Can we block the sand?" Jayna asked of the others, the sand climbing up her calves.

"I don't think we could aim well from this far away." Molly pointed out.

"Potter; could you transfigure the sand into something else?" Jayna tried again.

"Finally admitting I'm better at Transfiguration that you?" James cracked. She glared at him. "I don't think so; I can't do the sand as a whole, I'd have to do each grain separately."

"Anybody have an idea?" Jayna said finally, looking at Lydjah. Lydjah caught her gaze.

"I know the answer."

"What?"

"To the riddle. I know the answer." Jayna tried to keep her balance as the sand reached her waist.

All of a sudden, the sand at the opposite side of the dome began to rise together, forming a wave of churning sand.

"That doesn't look good." Sam said bluntly. Lydjah snatched her wand out of her pocket and brandished it fiercely at the glass wall in front of her.

"Flagrate!" She scrawled the word 'bird' on the wall as the sand trapping their legs dragged them back into the churning sand wave. Lien was screaming and Albus was frozen in horror, watching their terror.

"Sonoros!" Scorpius tried. His wand didn't even light up.

"We can't use the same spell twice!"

"It's bird!" Scorpius yelled, as loudly as he could. "Bird!" The Sphinx didn't even look at him. He cast his eyes round the room, trying to find something to get her attention. Albus squared his shoulders.

"Avis!" From the end of his wand, three birds flew out, towards the Sphinx's eyes. She blinked, growling at the birds that were no bigger than one of her toes. Then her eyes narrowed at them, recognising what they were. She looked down at Scorpius and Albus and sighed, disappointed.

Albus didn't remember closing his eyes but the next second he was opening them, stood outside the Secret room.

"We did it?" Albus asked, looking around for Scorpius. The blonde-haired boy didn't answer him, looking instead with a wince at the very sandy bodies of their friends.

Jayna was retching up sand, James was laughing ("Why did you swallow it?" "For Merlin's sake I didn't mean to!"), Sam was scowling as she tipped the sand out of her pockets, Lien was making more headway than the rest of them; her tears clearing the sand much more quickly, Molly was using her nails to scrape the sand off her bare skin and Lydjah was staring off into the distance, her eyes cloudy.

"Lydjah?" Scorpius asked hesitantly. She blinked and focused back in on them.

"Aguamenti!" Jayna shrieked as Lydjah's wand spurted cold water all over her. She tried to wriggle away until she saw how the sand was washing off her and pouted, shivering but still. "Ventus!" She said kindly, a few seconds later, drying Jayna off again. Jayna stood up from her damp puddle and grabbed her bag.

"Lydjah-"

"I know; take meticulous notes in every class, blackmail James into taking notes in Muggle Studies; got it." James started to protest, but Sam punched his shoulder.

"I'll see you all later. Hopefully by next week I'll be able to just continue with the therapy at school."

"Do you want us to visit you?" Lien asked, gently. Jayna hesitated.

"I'll… I'll see how I'm doing. I'll owl you all ok? I lo-" Her voice broke and she cleared it. "I've got to go. Bye guys." She grabbed her bag and strode off without looking back, her spare hand shaking at her side.