After classes on Wednesday, Rowena, Rhys, and Genevieve made their way cautiously into Aquila's room at Hogwarts. It was cramped, but they felt it might take all three of them to convince him that destroying the book was the right idea. He was awake and seemed more himself than he had been in a long time. When they entered, he rose onto his elbows and smiled. "Good to see you three. How are classes going?"

"Strenuous, but worth it," Rowena replied, leaning down to give him a quick hug. "I can't imagine how difficult everything will be before our N.E.W.T.s next year."

He chuckled. "It will be insane. But you're smart kids, I know you'll do fine."

"Thanks, Papa. How are you feeling?"

"Good. They're taking good care of me here. I'm glad you thought to bring me. Healers aren't this good back in Godric's Hollow."

Rowena's smile was halfway formed from guilt. "We didn't just bring you here because of the healers, though. We also, well, we need your help."

"Does this have to do with your mother?"

She cast a sidelong glance back at her friends, who nodded encouragingly. "It does, Papa. She's already tried to kill us once, and we need to stop her."

His expression was torn, and Rowena could see the love he still had for his wife fighting with the truth of what she was doing to him. "I know you do, sweetheart. How can I help, though? I'm too weak to do anything, and I am still in love with her. I don't know if I could hurt her." Rowena patted his hand, trying to encourage him, but again his face changed. "That's not true, Ro. I can hurt her. I already have hurt her, in fact. The memories that I gave you - they weren't complete. Not exactly."

"What do you mean? It seemed complete to me."

"They were whole; I didn't take anything out, but I stopped them before they were truly over. In France at the countryside, after she killed the man, she created... she created a Horcrux then and there. I watched it from the bushes before I took you to the town for food. I knew what she had done, and although I didn't know what object she stored her soul in, I knew she would never be the same.

"I knew it when she came back at the end of the memory I gave you from our house. We finished reading the story together for the first time, and she knocked on the door." His eyes were unfocused, but Rowena was sure this was because he immersed himself in the memory, not because her mother was trying to take over again. "It was such a strange feeling, having my wife knock on the door. She came back to remind me how important it was to keep the book safe, and when she did, I remembered her trip to France. Of course her soul was inside the book. Of course it was.

"When she turned to leave again, I stopped her, spinning her around with a hand on her shoulder and pulling her in for a kiss."

"In front of me?"

Aquila laughed. "We're your parents! What did it matter to you, then, to see your parents kissing? Anyway, in the moment just before, while her back was turned, I had grabbed a knife from the counter and while we kissed... I stabbed her through the heart." Tears stained his face as he recounted the story. "I still regret it; I couldn't bring myself to try to kill the book even after I... I knew I had to, but I couldn't do it. Years later, when I finally did try, it regenerated itself. I couldn't think of a way to make her soul disappear completely, so instead I obeyed her final request. I kept it safe."

"It's time to destroy it, Papa."

"I know," he said, though he held the book tight against his chest. "You'll take it from me, and I won't even know, right?"

"No, Papa," she said, stroking his arm gently, like a caretaker would. "We need you to be the one who destroys it."

His eyes bolted open, alarmed. "Why?"

"Because we have to use Fiendfyre and your magic is stronger than ours. We'll be right there, but you have to be the one to do it."

"No, I can't. I'm not strong enough. She might try to come back."

"She might try to come back even if she doesn't try to take over your body, Papa. We'll wait until you're feeling better and we've found a way to control it, but then we have to do it."

"Control Fiendfyre? I know how."

"You do?"

"All fire requires oxygen to survive. You just have to literally contain it. If you only need the book to burn, you just have to make sure you can stifle it - with dirt or something - as soon as possible afterward. There's a charm, too, that counters it. But it's complicated and I never learned it." He smiled weakly, then closed his eyes. The trip to lucidity seemed to have cost him. After a few minutes, making sure he was truly asleep, the trio left, once again inviting Genevieve into their Common Room.

The whole way back, Rowena was silent, thinking over everything her father had told her. But one thing in particular kept bothering her. Morgana had come back after she and her father started reading the book. She came back and Aquila killed her.

Rowena had a nagging feeling that she'd watched. At seven years old, Rowena watched her father murder her mother. Deserving or not, she had been there and likely hadn't understood the implications. All it took was an Obliviate afterward and she went back to believing that she hadn't watched her mum die.

It was no wonder she could see Thestrals, then, but why did it take so long? When they sat down by the fireside, Rhys turned to her and squeezed her hand. "You haven't said anything since we left. Is everything okay?"

"I was just thinking... I must have witnessed my mum's death."

Genevieve stayed confused, but within a moment, understanding crossed Rhys's face. "And all of a sudden you can see Thestrals."

"Exactly. But why only now? She died before I came to Hogwarts."

Genevieve looked thoughtful. "Up until you had the conversation with your mum's apparition, didn't you think she died in childbirth?"

Rowena nodded. "So what?"

"Maybe when she told you that you were seven when she died, something clicked subconsciously. Your brain was told how old you were, and a part of it began to remember everything you went through."

A moment's processing and her brain seemed to nudge her toward accepting Genevieve's explanation. It made sense. "Okay, so what now?"

"I don't think there is really a 'what now', Ro. I guess we get to go back to being regular students again while we wait for your father to finish recovering. We might actually get a chance to..." He reached for her hand and squeezed it.

"Morgana's still out there, Rhys. I don't know if I'm ready yet."

He nodded and dropped her hand, and Rowena became awkwardly conscious of Genevieve's attentive expression. She shook off the lingering fireworks and quickly changed the subject.

The next evening, they again visited Aquila after classes. He was able to get out of his sickbed and wander about the room, but only when supported by Rowena. His improvement in mobility was stark over the day before, but Rowena could tell he wasn't yet ready to go outside, let alone cast a complicated spell. She set him back down on his bed then sat beside him.

"You're doing well, Papa. I'm really proud of you."

"Thanks, Ro. I think maybe tomorrow I'll be ready."

She grinned. "I was thinking exactly the same thing. I'll pick you up at nightfall and the two of us can head out."

"But Ro, what about Genevieve and me?"

"We can't risk all of us getting caught out there - two is dangerous enough, but four is conspicuous. Remember what Professor Finney said?"

His face fell. "Okay. But we'll be at the window watching, and if anything goes wrong..."

"I get it, and I wouldn't expect anything less from you."

"Um..."

"Yeah, Gen?"

"What if things are going wrong right now?"

Rowena didn't have time to ask what she meant. She followed her friend's gaze to the door, which was rattling. The doorknob was twisting. The air in the room felt strangely still; no one was breathing.

"Finally," Morgana said when she opened the door. "Maybe getting a physical body back wasn't my best idea."

"But... but how..." Rowena sputtered after staring at her mother. "Papa's getting better!"

"He still loves that book, Ro. He still pours himself into it when you're gone. But he got me far enough. There were potions for the rest."

"Then what are you doing here? Get on with whatever life you plan on living in that disgusting body."

"The life I plan on living starts here, Rowie. I've explained this. You and me together."

"I don't believe you. Get out." She pointed her wand at her mother, unblinking.

"I have work to do first, Rowie. Your father has turned against me; he knows my secrets and has chosen to oppose me. I must do away with him."

Rhys and Genevieve were up in an instant, wands out, and with Rowena they moved in front of Aquila's bed. "You mean you've taken all you can get from him and you don't need him anymore. You're disgusting."

"Get out of the way, you three," she responded calmly. "I have no issue taking you down before him."

"Stupefy!" Rowena screamed, and let herself smile as her mother's body fell temporarily to the ground. She grabbed the book from her father and ran as fast as she could throughout the halls of Hogwarts. Her mother would wake up soon, certainly, and when she did, Rowena wanted to be deep into the Forest.

Rowena had no idea how long her Stunning Spell would last. The darkness was deep outside, filling the school with shadows, but Rowena wasn't worried. Dawn would come soon enough, and in the light, she hoped, everything her mother was and wasn't would be revealed. For now, however, all that needed to happen was getting to the Forest.

She didn't have the Invisibility Cloak, or Professor Finney's permission, or any of the other things she planned on receiving. There wasn't time for those anymore; sometimes it really was a matter of life and death. Some things were more important than the thought of expulsion. Keeping her sanity and her father, and destroying her mother, for instance. Footsteps followed her throughout the halls, echoing too loudly on the stairs, but a quick glance behind her showed only Genevieve and Rhys. Their presence relieved her: some things weren't meant to be fought alone.

Her friends caught up when they reach the grounds, still running. "Have you seen Morgana? Has she woken up?"

"I don't know," Rhys said. "And I'm afraid she'll go for your father before us."

Rowena hesitated, ready to turn around and go back for him, but Rhys put a steady hand on her shoulder. "Don't. You won't help. The best thing you can do is destroy the book."

She nodded, still wary. "Do you think Papa will be okay?"

"I don't know. But I hope so."

They were about halfway to the Forest, running on the soft dewy grass, when the castle doors heaved open behind them and slammed shut. Morgana was coming, and though Rowena couldn't see her face from the distance, especially in the darkness, she could almost feel her fury, and they ran all the harder.

However, Rhys broke away from the girls, running perpendicular to them instead. "What are you doing?"

"If we don't want to get expelled, I think our best bet is to tell Finney now and bring him with us. Maybe he'll know what to do."

Rowena and Genevieve shared a quick glance, but Morgana was gaining on them and they didn't have much time to decide. Perhaps Rhys was right, and having Finney there would help. If he was wrong... Rowena didn't want to think about their punishment. There were too many important things to think about. Genevieve's eyes seemed to be attempting to convince her that Rhys was right as well; she turned back to him, nodded, then took off running yet again.

This time, she didn't bother going deep into the Forest like she had been in the past. She made it far enough to be under the cover of the charred trees before stopping, hands on her knees and panting with the effort.

"Come on, Ro. We don't have much time."

Her brain was scrambled from the run and the panic; deviating from the plan had thrown off her sense of where she was and why. "I know, but what do we do next?"

"Exactly what we would have had your father do, but we have to do it ourselves."

"Are you sure our magic is good enough?"

Genevieve shrugged. "I guess we'll find out." She pointed her wand at a clearing and began letting magic do the digging for her. Careful to hold the book underneath her left arm, Rowena joined her, the excess dirt piling neatly at one corner as the hole got deeper and deeper. Behind them came the thumping of footsteps and panicked, Rowena edged to the hole and looked in. It was only about four feet deep.

"Is it enough?"

"I don't think so. I want it as deep as we can get it."

"But someone's coming! If they sneak up on us and attack us, they'll take the book first. Shouldn't we do what we can?"

"Just a few more seconds, and less time than that if you help," Genevieve insisted.

Sending one annoyed look her friend's way, she pointed her wand back at the pile, trying to ignore the footsteps as they got louder and louder behind her. The ground was firm at this point, and it took more and more effort the deeper they got. As soon as Genevieve nodded that they were done, however, the footsteps stopped behind them. Rowena turned around slowly, keeping the book behind her back as she rotated. She didn't realize how tense her posture was until it relaxed when she realized it was only Rhys and Professor Finney.

"Oh good," Rhys said. "You haven't started yet."

"No, we haven't. We thought for a moment... I mean, did you see Morgana?"

"She's on her way," Professor Finney said, sounding grave. "We better hurry."

Rowena stepped toward their professor, handing him the book. "We planned on using Fiendfyre, but maybe you should do it."

He shook his head. "I'm here to help if you need it, but I think it's only fair that you cast the spell. Rhys told me what's been happening. I'm sorry for being so harsh on you, Rowena."

"I understand," Rowena started, but Genevieve interrupted.

"Can we not right now? I hear something coming."

Decisively, Rowena threw the book into the crater, stood at the edge, and cast the spell. Despite the books they had read on the subject, she wasn't prepared for the sheer force of the heat and she backed away from the hole as a snake appeared from the flames, chasing the book and engulfing its own tail as it swallowed the pages. Rowena couldn't watch long. Professor Finney stood beside her, casting the complicated charm to cease the flames while Genevieve and Rhys threw the piles of earth back on top of the book.

Even from underneath the weight of the earth, Rowena could hear the soul screaming and its agony left her very close to pity before coming to her senses and remembering what it is that had been destroyed. Small licks of flame still came up to the surface of the hole, blazing momentarily like a lighter before flickering out. "We need to stop those," Professor Finney said. "If they're in the air long enough, they'll find the oxygen they need to keep going, and from there it will only grow."

They heaved new dirt on top of the completed mound, each focusing so deeply on keeping the fire contained and helping it to die beneath their feet that they didn't hear Morgana approaching behind them.

"It's gone?" Rhys whispered tentatively, looking over the mound of dirt that still steamed from the heat.

"What's gone?" Morgana answered, her voice close enough to Rowena's neck that she could feel the monster breathing. She kept calm, trying her best to not analyze what it meant that her mother was breathing again, trying not to think of what she might have done to her father.

"The book," Rowena replied confidently. "The book has been destroyed."

A look of triumph overcame her mother's face and when she spoke she was almost laughing. "What did you do? Bury it? Horcruxes are very resilient and I haven't felt it dying yet."

"Fiendfyre," Genevieve replied. "And we heard it die."

"No," Morgana said, but she was whispering almost to herself. "No. This is impossible. They're just kids; they don't know how to do it. It will be okay."

Her whispering was like a madness and Genevieve and Rhys moved closer to Rowena in the middle. The three of them held hands, standing in the gap between Morgana and the place where her soul had once been. Rowena tried to be fearless, tried to stay that way even when Morgana raised a wand - her father's - and the ground beneath them started to shake. She knew what her mother was doing in this earthquake. She wanted to see the book of fairy tales for herself. This didn't worry Rowena. She knew it had been destroyed.

The only issue, then, was whether or not Morgana would try to get through the three of them to get to the book.

Morgana's first verbal spells were to Stun both Rhys and Genevieve before any of them had time to react. Rowena glanced around, but couldn't see Professor Finney anywhere and she was too scared to call out to him. "Join me, Rowena. We can rediscover immortality together, mother and daughter."

"Not if I lived a thousand lifetimes," Rowena said. Morgana's next spell knocked her over, but she remained conscious on the ground, unable to move. Sunrise was coming, adding a reddish tinge to the treetops and the ashes on the ground until they almost seemed to be glowing. In this light with its long shadows, a strange-shaped shadow fell over her body and if she could have moved, she would have smiled.