WARNING: There is some moderate/severe swearing towards the end of this chapter.


The Aurors almost immediately put the castle on lockdown until Scorpius surfaced. Hogsmeade was thoroughly searched (to no avail), and posters were put up all over there area. Neville's greenhouses were locked, and Aurors remained on standby and guard around every corner. The Slytherin dormitories were all searched, in case someone was hiding Scorpius, and all of the Slytherins who were associated with Scorpius in any way were submitted to questioning, and many of the more common associates with Scorpius were made to take Veritaserum (Kingsley justified this, as Scorpius was technically a murderer as dangerous as any, even if under aged). Luckily, Brady cleverly managed to avoid the Verita-searches (as the Slytherins called this) by faking an intolerance to the milk the Auror had put in the (what he assumed) was the spiked tea. The Aurors got no leads. What perplexed them more than anything was how a fifteen year old wizard could produce a full-blown Killing Curse. According to the Aurors who reached the scene first, there had to be quite a powerful specimen of magic behind it in order for it to be lethal.

By Wednesday, the entire House of Slytherin was put on constant surveillance. The Gryffindors used this as not only a device to torment the Slytherins, but also as means to personally 'get back' at them for the death of James, one of their own. Because the Gryffindors had it much easier, they let loose hell on the Slytherins. Castora obviously attempted to stay out of it. She had way too much on her mind anyways.

But the Slytherins refused to take this lying down. Whenever they could, they retaliated against the Gryffindors tenfold. The Blood War had just gotten worse. No Gryffindor or Slytherin was safe.

As for Rose, Lily, and Hugo, they were treated like heroes, seeing as James' murder would have hit them hardest. They were given escorts by seventh years everywhere they went so they'd be safe (they volunteered to do the same for Castora, but she rarely left the tower for anything other than classes).

Castora let her worry for her husband consume her every last thought. She stopped doing homework assignments, and spent her time sitting by the window in her room, overlooking the Forbidden Forest, wondering day after day when that owl he promised would come. She only left the tower for class or to see Professor Longbottom, who, also, had heard nothing from Scorpius. Every day Castora could have sworn she felt her heart sink a little lower in her chest. She assumed by her one-week anniversary, it'd be past her stomach.

Rose was the only one to notice Castora's deteriorating state day after day. If she was suspicious of her in-law before, she wanted neither her nor Castora to have anything to do with him after the events of the weekend.

So, on Wednesday night, Rose arranged for a surprise to help cheer Castora up (and hopefully, teach her that there were better, more suitable men than Scorpius). She had two Gryffindor seventh-years go down to the Hufflepuff dormitories and get Duncan Finnegan to come up to Gryffindor tower to 'visit' with Castora.

Now, Duncan Finnegan was a nice enough lad. He certainly was a handsome boy, with his sandy blonde hair and deep blue eyes. His teeth were aligned perfectly and his voice was not-too-deep, but just smooth enough. Nor was he conceited about his good looks. His flaw: he was dumber than a House-Elf with a butterbeer addiction. Duncan Finnegan was a very simple boy. Despite this, half the Gryffindor girls from second-year up had it bad for Duncan. And Rose was determined to make a match for Castora with him.

Wednesday evening was clear and cold. Castora was spending some rare time in the common room, reading up on a book about the biographies of those who perished during Battle of Hogwarts twenty four years ago. She was halfway through the chapter on Colin Creevey, Professor Creevey's older brother, when Rose interrupted.

She looked up, but regretted it the moment she did, having seen Duncan right behind her. Castora rolled her eyes.

"Yes, Rosie?" she asked with as monotonous voice as she could muster.

"Duncan decided to drop by and see you; he hasn't seen you in weeks!" Rose said excitedly. Rose set her book aside and stood up. She was easily six inches taller than Rose.

"Rosie, do you REALLY think under the CIRCUMSTANCES that pushing a match on me is wise?!?" she whispered rather fiercely into her ear.

"Duncan, excuse us a moment," Rose said. Shoving Castora aside, she leaned down in her ear and whispered. "Cas, look at the facts. Scorpius is all but dead. He is going to be caught and banished. You don't NEED this stress right now. I think you'll be much happier with Duncan than you ever could be with Scorpius."

"Rose, you're mad," Castora said.

"Duncan's a wonderful boy. He's plainly smitten with you, and he's an appropriate match! Forget Scorpius. He only brings you sadness. You've been wasting away all week! Not eating, hardly sleeping! For once, be smart," Rose assured, putting her hand on Castora's shoulder.

"Are you being honest with me?" Castora said. Something about Rose's voice was off. Did she have news from Scorpius?

Rose nodded. "Yes. I only want your happiness, Cas!"

No, Castora thought. Rose would've given her news if there was any. Still, she really wanted some words of comfort, and not of this kind. She knew of only one other person who might have heard something, but wouldn't have been able to give her any news. Castora brushed past Rose and looked briefly at Duncan.

"Duncan, I'll be right down. I need to go up to my room really fast," Castora said. Rose shot her an odd look, but Castora quickly ran up the steps to the girls' dormitory. However, she didn't go into her own. Instead, she went to Lily Potter's room, several doors down from her own. She opened the door to find Lily curled up on her bed with a picture of James and Albus Severus as children. Castora bit her lip and thought. How could she pull this off without giving away anything?

"Lily? You okay?" asked Castora. Lily sprang to her feet and quickly hid the picture. Her eyes were moderately blood shot.

"Maybe. How are you feeling?"asked Lily.

"Lily, I have a mission for you. You can't have an escort, but you should be safe with the Aurors around. Can you do this for me? Please? I'll owe you sooo much!" Castora begged. Lily raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean? What kind of mission?" asked Lily.

"You have to go down to the Slytherin territory—"

"—and get myself killed just like James?!" shrieked Lily. "Who ARE you?!"

"Wait just a second, Lils!" Castora pleaded. "You'll be safe with the Aurors around," she reminded her cousin. "There's a fifth year down there by the name Brady O'Toole…"

"I know him. Why?" asked Lily, her voice deepening. Castora's, on the other hand, was heightening.

"He'll have information on Scorpius!"

"Why do YOU want to bother to know about that evil boy?" Lily asked.

"Uncle Ron said I had to do this, and you had to be the one to help," said Castora. "All will reveal itself in due course. But you MUST find out all you can about Scorpius' whereabouts from Brady O'Toole. Tell no Aurors, but come straight back to me with any information you have, alright? LILY? ALRIGHT?" Castora asked, frantically.

"What's in it for me?" Lily asked.

"Fifty galleons," Castora said, reaching into her pocket and taking out fifty large, gold coins she had made of habit of carrying around with her in case she could bribe information out of people.

Lily stared at the coins for a solid minute before scooping them up.

"What should I tell him?"

Castora thought a moment. "Tell Brady the information is for Scorpius' wife…it's a code. I'll explain when you get back."

Lily nodded got off the bed, pocketing her profit.

"Be secretive! If you run into Aurors, tell them you're delivering homework!" Castora said handing a few scrolls of old homework parchement to Lily. Lily nodded and walked cautiously towards the door.

She turned at the last second. "What should I tell Rose and Duncan?" she asked with a smirk.

Castora rolled her eyes. "Tell them my period came early this month. At the very least, that should scare Duncan off."


Lily Potter had successfully made it into Slytherin territory without being stopped by Aurors nor Slytherins. Her nerve was starting to leave her. She could barely believe her Uncle Ron had put her and Castora up to whatever secretive mission this was supposed to be.

The dungeons were cold and dark. Lily's chills got worse with every step she took. Eventually, she passed an open door with a group of Slytherin boys hanging out inside the old Potions lab. An Auror stood guard a little further down the corridor, but didn't seem to notice Lily there. Lily stopped to take a breath. She made sure her Gryffindor tie and seal weren't showing, then she stepped in the doorway.

"So I said to her, she looks so bad that—may I help you?" asked a short, black-haired Slytherin boy tossing a toy Snitch around. Lily shuffled her feet.

"I'm looking for Brady O'Toole," she said meekly.

"She's not a Slytherin, I would've recognized her if she was," said another boy. Lily spotted Brady sitting in the corner with a book in hand. Brady stood up.

Lily swallowed. "I'm here on behalf of someone else who needs news about…Scorpius."

Brady stood at attention, while the other boys' faces grew increasingly suspicious. "Who needs it?"

"His wife," Lily said. She raised an eyebrow at Brady, who nodded and reached into his pocket, pulling out a small piece of parchment. Most of the Slytherin boys laughed.

"Scorps isn't married," said the black-haired boy. "Not the type, either, unless his father set it up for him."

"That's between Brady and I," Lily said, attempting to stand her ground in front of these boys. One suddenly got a look on his face and pointed at Lily, while motioning with his other hand for the boy nearest the door to shut it, which he did. Lily jumped and turned around.

"I know you! You're James Potter's baby sister! A Gryffindor!"

"I bet she's spying for her daddy so they can catch Scorpius!"

"No!" Lily begged. "Let me out!" she yelled, panicked.

"See? She knows she's been caught, the little shit!" said the black-haired boy, grabbed her by her left elbow. Lily found his grip too much to break away from, no matter how much she struggled.

"Let her go!" Brady begged. But none of the others heard him. He was powerless.

"She's spying for her Auror daddy so they can find Scorpius!" accused a lanky boy.

"Let's make sure that she doesn't talk again! This is a secret meeting for Slytherins only! We've had enough of the Gryffindors and Aurors up or asses because of what one guy did!" announced the black-haired boy.

The rest of the boys agreed, and Lily, despite her kicking and screaming, was forced to the floor. The boy holding her began fingering her legs, his hand slowly traveling up her thigh. Lily attempted to scream, but someone had cast a Silencing Charm on her. While the black-haired boy continued to feel her up (no matter how tightly she closed her legs, he managed to get all the way up until his hand was where Lily had prayed he'd never get), the other boys rained insults down upon her.

"Gryffindor pig!"

"Spy!"

"Cut the feeling up, Ed! Screw her! Fuck her up! She's not going anywhere!"

"Fuck her, Eddie! Little tramp deserves it!"

Lily panicked. She tried kicking for her life. She could hear the laughs and insults as the black-haired boy was beginning to undo his belt—

"—LET HER GO!!!" Brady suddenly screamed. Everyone was caught off guard just long enough for Lily to escape and open the door. She pulled out her wand and pointed at the black-haired boy.

"DON'T YOU TOUCH ME OR I'LL CALL THE AURORS TO BREAK YOUR FUCKING MEETING UP!!" Lily screeched. This threat, benign as it was, seemed to subdue the Slytherins. It would have too, because they had so few freedoms anymore. Lily stepped out the door and turned to leave.

"Wait!" called Brady. "You needed news?" he asked, holding out the small piece of parchment in his hand.

Lily turned on her heels and looks maliciously at Brady. "Not anymore."


"That was a very low thing you did," Rose moaned later that evening. Castora waited in anxiety for Lily to return with news. She'd been gone several hours now. Castora had then retreated to her room to avoid Duncan Finnegan anymore. "Ditching Duncan! It's a miracle he still likes you!"

"I don't love Duncan," Castora insisted. "Besides, you were part of the Vow to keep Scorpius and me together!"

"Castora, there's something you should know about Scorpius—"

Castora turned around to hear what Rose had to say, but she was interrupted by a disheveled, heaving Lily running in the door. She gave Castora a vicious eye.

"Lily?" Rose and Castora asked at the same moment.

Lily turned to Castora and knitted her eyebrows. "He's dead."

Castora's heart stopped. No, she had to be hearing wrong. "W..what?"

Lily gritted her teeth maliciously. "His body was found floating in the river that runs along the Welsh border. Scorpius Malfoy is dead, and good fucking riddance he is!"