Disclaimer: Everything belongs to J.K Rowling.

Chapter 47: The Grey Lady

-Harry-

Classes finished and I swallowed most of my food without chewing in an attempt to finish quickly. I needed to talk to Rowena, and quickly. She had been wrong about the horcruxes, she had said there were five, then listed them. Thing was, she hadn't mentioned the goblet. Rowena had missed it, or Voldemort's horcrux had been able to conceal it from her.

I almost ran to the fourth floor and inside Rowena's Room. She was waiting in her purple armchair, hands folded neatly in her lap.

She gave me an unimpressed look. "I should punish you for not coming here earlier."

I smiled sheepishly. "But you won't, you like me too much, right?"

Rowena gestured for me to sit down. "Don't push your limits." She wished for me to continue. "Tell me everything, now."

I retold the entirety of yesterday's evening. From everything I was told in Dumbledore's office to everything I was told in Dumbledore's office the second time around.

Rowena sat silent for a long time after I had finished. "Perhaps we should reconsider," she said, eventually. "You're right in one thing, Voldemort is too powerful for you. . ."

"The best way to win a fight is to never start it," I repeated.

Rowena was lost in thought. "I'll have to think about this," she said. "I'll come up with a way, somehow."

The weight on my shoulders suddenly felt far lighter. How could I have forgotten that I had Rowena Ravenclaw on my side?

"Are you certain there were only five horcruxes?" I asked, unable to keep my concern inside. "Or was the goblet one of them?"

Rowena frowned. "I. . .will take another look." Her purple irises were contracted in concentration. "It's good that we haven't destroyed the horcrux yet."

I nodded. "Yes. Definitely."

Rowena smiled at me brightly, though a little forced. "Anyways, have you come around to meeting with my house's ghost yet?" I noticed that her fingers were fidgeting in her lap, not folded neatly, as they usually were.

"No." I sighed. "She has been hard to find, it is as if she is avoiding me."

Rowena frowned. "Perhaps she is," my master whispered. "But you must find her and get her to tell you where the horcrux is."

"I know, I know." I paused for a moment. "I'll ask someone in Ravenclaw if they know where she can be found."

"Good. Do that." She paused and I got the impression she wanted to say something else. She didn't.

It felt like my master was afraid.

My master stood up and gave me a mocking smile, it caught me off guard. "Let's get to work," she said, surprising me even further. She strided inside the room we used for practice. "I want to show you a new spell, one I was taught by Salazar."

My mouth almost hit the floor. "You're going to teach me a spell which Salazar fucking Slytherin taught you?"

Rowena smiled at me, this time, it was not forced. "Yes, he taught it to me whilst we were building Hogwarts. We traded, I taught him one spell, he taught me one spell."

I chuckled. "Whilst you were building Hogwarts. . . right, such an everyday thing to do," I said dryly. "What spell did you teach him?"

"Convadcryst. And we actually did, for a while, build Hogwarts day in, day out, I mean. We created a rock, a rock which would soon grow to be this entire castle." She gestured around the room.

I shook my head in disbelief. "One rock grew to become a huge castle?"

She nodded. "Yes. It was. . . difficult to create, but it ended up being one of my best works."

"I would imagine so." I took my wand out of my pocket. "So what is this spell?"

Rowena curled her lips. "He called it the 'spell of teleportation." Rowena smiled fondly. "I called it S.O.T."

I chucked. "I'm not sure which name is worse. Does it do what I think it does?"

Rowena smiled wickedly. "Lustragio." She pointed her wand at the ground just in front of me and a beige light whisked out of the wand. The light impacted on the floor and my master disappeared.

Then she reappeared right in front of me, standing on the spot where the spell had struck.

I stared into her purple irises. My brain was unable to even comprehend what happened.

"That's. . . incredible."

Rowena smiled broadly, her face mere centimetres away from mine. "I know, I know. I told Salazar the same thing when he showed it to me."

I chuckled. "Master. . ." I took a deep breath and looked inside her eyes; they were full of emotion –sadness, confidence, but for the first time, I was absolutely sure that they held affection. "I wanted to thank you," I said quietly, locking my gaze on my feet. "You have helped me so much and I don't think I've thanked you enough."

I dared to raise my eyes. My master was standing tense, her purple irises clouded with something I couldn't identify. Everything I had seen in her eyes before was swirling around like a storm, but it was all there.

Then she smiled. "Thank you, Harry. Then I want to thank you too, I think I've learned things from you as well."

"Really? I doubt it."

"Don't doubt it, it's true." Rowena smiled at me shyly. "Anyway, enough with this sentimental bullshit, now it's your turn. You remember the incantation, right?"

"Lustragio."

"Good." Rowena circled around so she stood behind me. "Aim your wand at the floor, just a couple of metres away."

I did so.

"Now, picture yourself travelling at the speed of light towards that point."

I closed my eyes and played images of myself appearing just at the spot my wand was pointed at.

"When you're ready: say the incantation."

I inhaled. "Lustragio." I exhaled.

The beige light appeared and then it struck the ground and then . . .

I found myself lying on the ground, at another place in the room, my arse throbbing painfully. Rowena walked up to me with an amused look. "An adequate first try."

"You could have warned me that it would hurt."

Rowena extended a hand and helped me to my feet again. "You only need to work on your 'landing'." She smiled supportively. "After that, you will be fine."

I nodded. "Great," I said with fake enthusiasm. "I can't wait to be knocked to my butt more."

"Just keep the reward in mind, yeah?" Rowena strided over and sat down at a bench by the wall. "Imagine how awesome it will be when you're darting across the battlefield like a lost bat."

"If the price is weeks of pain. . ."

"Stop behaving like a child, Harry. What would your wife think if she learned her husband was afraid to be knocked on his butt?"

"Really? What are you, twelve?"

She smiled at me, mocking me. "Onethousand and twelve."

"It's beginning to show," I muttered.

Rowena narrowed her eyes on me. "Are you calling me. . . old?"

"Are you telling me you're not?"

My master sent a spell at me that I blocked without thinking. "Be careful what you say, Harry. I have no qualms to remind you that age equates wisdom." She fired a beige spell behind me and then disappeared from the bench. I felt something impact against the back of my head. "Now get to work! I want you to stand firmer than Hogwarts when we're done."

-()-

-Draco-

I pushed the food around on my plate with a small frown. Blaise was sitting next to me, talking to his girlfriend. Every so often, my gaze would wander down the table to land at Daphne.

She sat there, alone, most likely waiting for Davis. I hadn't spoken to her once since she asked me to pretend to be upset with her.

Then, one time as I looked at her, Daphne's eyes snapped up and our gazes were locked, just for a second. In that second, I could see her eyes flash in annoyance, and that was how I knew that she still wanted me to keep the act up.

I felt empty and light, like a finished bottle of wine, when I left. Somehow, it felt like I had no real purpose. The only thing I worked towards was the destruction of this castle, everyone in it, and the wizarding world.

But that would stop today, after weeks of planning and organising, I could, possibly, start something which was good.

It didn't even have a name. It didn't even have ten members. It didn't even have a purpose.

The one thing I said about it was a place people could go for help.

I arrived in the classroom, I had chosen first of everyone. Not that everyone was a great many people, but it was a couple, hopefully.

I felt a nervous rock in my stomach, like a piece of food I couldn't digest. I started pacing the classroom, back and forth, back and forth, and back and forth again. A million thoughts drove through my head like it was a highway with an infinite number of lanes.

The more and more time went on, the highway narrowed; and then, when an hour had passed, there was only one lane left –one thought running through my head: no one would come.

-()-

-Harry-

The library was absolutely packed. I walked around, looking for anywhere to sit and complete Snape's assignment. My session with Rowena had been fun, but very time consuming. As such, I would have to write a couple of points about what I would show tomorrow.

Performing the spell was no problem, but I had to give some general information about it as well. I rolled my eyes at the thought. After this, I would have three weeks to become an expert at the stunning charm, and then demonstrate everything.

It was ludicrous. I knew Snape did it purely to annoy me.

Hermione got a curse which left the victim unable to move their hands. I got the impression Snape wanted to send some kind of message.

Point being, everyone else got spells which were interesting and relatively difficult.

Except me, who got a spell fit for a fourth year.

I found Ron and Hermione and managed to get a hold of a chair. This shouldn't take too long. After that, I would try to find Ravenclaw's ghost.

So when I had an outline of a plan about Snape's assignment, I spoke.

"Hermione."

The girl looked up from her essay. "Yes Harry?"

"I was wondering, do you know anyone who knows where I can find Ravenclaw's ghost?"

Hermione put her essay down. "I think so. Why?" Her tone was so innocent, but I was too used to it. I knew she wanted to know what I was up to, whatever it was.

"Why do you think, because I want to avoid Ravenclaw's ghost?"

Hermione didn't look too amused at my sarcasm. "Ask Luna, she could know." She smiled, but there was a semblance of a glare there. "Lune showed me inside their common room last year. It was beautiful inside, much better than Gryffindor's, I must say."

"Of course you would think so, it was most likely full of books."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Ha ha, very funny. But no, The architecture was great and all, but most of all, there was this beautiful statue inside. Blue as the sea. . . I wish we had one of those inside our own, it was a work of art."

"There's plenty of statues in the castle, just bring one of them inside the common room. Anyways. I will find this Luna then. Thank you, Hermione"

"Just be careful Harry." Ron was looking at me seriously, as if I was about to go into a war. "Luna is not normal. Make sure that she understands what you want, you can't allow anything to be up for interpretation."

"I'll bear that in mind," I said, now very curious about the person I was about to find. "Bye guys, see you later."

-()-

-Daphne-

"I was wondering if I would find you here."

I scribbled away at my parchment. "I have Snape."

Tracey snorted and fell down into the opposite armchair. "Poor girl, an essay due soon?"

I shook my head. "No, I have to demonstrate the flaying curse."

"The flaying curse?" Tracey laughed weakly. "When I had defence last, it was torture in the form of tediousness, I didn't realise that it had turned into literal torture." Tracey smiled, trying to look evil. "Then I would have stayed."

I rolled my eyes and looked up from the parchment. "We have to learn the spell and show it first, then we have to make a presentation about it, counters and uses and such."

Tracey sighed contently. "Forget what I said, I'm glad I didn't choose defence."

"You mean that your grades weren't good enough."

Tracey rolled her eyes. "Everyone didn't spend every second of their freetime hunting down rebels last year. Some people have fun, you know. I know it may sound foreign to you, but it exists."

"Yes, I'm sure it was very fun for you when you got attacked by Corner after one of those times you had 'fun'."

Tracey folded her arms. "That's your problem Daphne. For me, it was kind of worth getting my hand broken."

I raised my eyebrows. "Really? And who was it that made it worth it?"

"I won't tell you. Either way, me and him are over now. If you want to find out who, you'll need to get a boyfriend of your own."

"I don't need a boyfriend, I need to focus on this." I stood up and pointed my wand at a conjured target. "Excorio."

A dark green light flew from my wand and struck the target dummy, tearing off pieces violently.

Tracey gulped and walked up next to me. "Just don't use that spell on me, okay?"

I smiled. "Don't worry. This one is reserved for people who annoy me."

The brown-haired girl looked up at me, her brown eyes eyeing my wand warily. "So you will use it on me?"

-()-

-Harry-

I followed Luna Lovegood's label on the marauder's map, barely looking up to make sure I didn't walk into a wall. It was late, about eight o'clock. Dinner had finished hours ago. Yet there was one name which remained inside the Great Hall.

Sitting alone by the Ravenclaw table was Luna Lovegood, with blonde hair which was almost white. The girl was wearing a set of Hogwarts robes which had been altered slightly.

I approached the table and sat down in front of her.

"Uhh, hello? Are you Luna Lovegood?"

The girl twitched and her gaze settled on me, as if she hadn't noticed me earlier. "Yes." She smiled at me brightly. "And you are?"

I blinked rapidly. "Uhh, don't you know who I am?"

Luna smiled and extended a hand. "No, I don't believe we've met before. Should I know you?"

I observed her hand a moment before I took it and shook it firmly. "No. I'm Harry. Harry Potter."

Luna nodded absently. "It's nice to meet you, Harry Potter. Have you come to watch the launch too?"

"The what?"

"The launch." Luna smiled brightly and stared up into the ceiling, which was dark with sprinkles of light. "They are sending a pair of unicorns to the moon, daddy told me. They will be safer there."

I stared up into the ceiling. "I'm sure they will." I cleared my throat. "But Luna, I have a question."

Luna smiled. "Oh? But what can possibly be more important than sending unicorns to the moon?"

I chuckled. "Nothing. Nothing is more important. I was just wondering if you know where I can find the Grey Lady."

Luna's gaze descended from the ceiling and settled in my eyes. Her irises were a pale blue. I got the impression she didn't see me, as if she was staring at something behind me.

"I think she is waiting for the launch too." Luna smiled and looked up into the ceiling again. "But she didn't want to sit in here."

I frowned, was she also looking at the stars? I could have sworn a lightbulb appeared over my head.

"The astronomy tower! Is she in the astronomy tower?"

Luna smiled even wider. Then her eyes widened in excitement. An orange light flew across the sky, up into the higher atmosphere.

"Good luck, unicorns. May your stay on the moon be prosperous."

"Yes." My eyes tracked the orange light, feeling oddly melancholic. "May your stay on the moon be prosperous."

-()-

The halls were dark on my ascent to the tower, only the torches flickered welcomingly along the way. The warmth of summer hadn't quite escaped for the year, but there was no tangible heat lingering in the air either.

By the balcony of the tower hovered the ghost, just as Luna had hinted she would. The translucent creature didn't seem to know I had arrived. I had no idea what to expect of her. I didn't even know how old she was. I didn't even know her name, apart from 'The Grey Lady'.

"Uh, hello?" I walked towards the ghost with uncertain steps. "Are you the 'Grey Lady'?"

The ghost turned around and flew away quick as lightning, straight through me, down the stairs where I had come from. "Not here, follow me."

I shivered from the icy touch of the ghost flying through me before I hurried after, I almost had to sprint.

The ghost twisted and turned around corners, zooming down the corridor at inhuman speed. That is, until she reached a room on the fifth floor. It was pitch dark inside, I could barely see two metres ahead of me.

"Lumos." I held my wand up and illuminated the room. The ghost hovered a couple of metres away from me, her face turned away.

"Are ghosts sensitive to light or something?" I asked with annoyance.

A small chuckle came from the ghost. "No. I just thought this would be better, there are no torches here."

"Are you allergic to torches, then, or why couldn't we just talk anywhere else?"

"She hasn't told you?"

It felt like someone had thrown a bucket of ice water over my head. "What did you say?" I whispered. My fingers grasped my wand tightly, but there was no way I could kill, or even hurt a ghost.

"I said, 'she hasn't told you'?" I got the impression the ghost was smiling, even though she had her face turned away from me.

I tried to ignore the knot of discomfort. "Who is 'she'?"

The ghost clicked her tongue, or it sounded as if she did. "Your master, Mr. Potter. Isn't that what she has you calling her?"

I breathed out shakily. "What? . . . how?"

The ghost chuckled, it sounded metallic and cold. "She has created some impressive defences around that room, but she can't keep me out, not in this form."

"So you know about her?" I asked, barely allowing myself to breathe. "Do all ghosts know about her?"

The ghost shook her head, her face still obscured from me. "No, only I know about her and that little room she has hidden. I was the first ghost in the castle, you know. . ."

I swallowed and nodded shakily. "I understand. . ." My curiosity got the better of me. "So what is it that she hasn't told me about the torches?"

The ghost stared up into the ceiling. "You must have noticed that she has a system of figuring out what is going on throughout the castle."

"The torches is how she does it? I've wondered about that ever since I met her!"

The ghost nodded. "Yes. She uses the fireplace inside her room to watch through them." The Grey Lady paused for a moment. "If you know how to do it, you could stare into that fire and see through any torch in the castle."

That. . . made a lot of sense. My master was often staring inside the fire, seemingly doing nothing, had she been observing things throughout the castle that entire time? I didn't know how to feel about that.

Instead of continuing that train of thought, I said, "who are you? How do you know all of this?"

The ghost froze in place, it reminded me of Nearly Headless Nick after he had been petrified by the basilisk. "She. . . hasn't told you who I am?" The ghost had sounded surprised earlier, partly mocking even. This time, she sounded outright shocked.

"Should I know who you are?"

The ghost hummed. "You've come here in secrecy," she said. "Your master doesn't know you're here."

I frowned. "No, she was the one who sent me here to meet you."

The Grey Lady laughed, it sounded harsh and cruel. "And she took the house for the intelligent? Ha!"

"Am I missing something?"

The ghost turned around. Revealing the face of an older woman, worn and wrinkled. My mouth fell open. That was a face I had seen many times before. That was a face I saw almost every day. But older.

"How. . . who. . . what?!" I stammered.

The Grey Lady smiled at me, mocking my ignorance. "I'm Helena Ravenclaw." She bowed deeply with her lips curled into a sneer. "Rowena Ravenclaw was my. . . mother."

"What?" I grasped for words which wouldn't come. "She's never told me about a daughter."

The ghost laughed again, her old face full of condescension. "Oh no. Has your master lied to you?" the ghost asked, as if she was addressing a toddler.

I glared at her. "She has never claimed that she didn't have a child. So, no, she hasn't lied to me."

Helena laughed again and sat down at one of the tables in the room. "Why are you defending her? She has deceived you. Why would she not tell you about me, unless she has something to hide?"

I raised my chin, refusing to rise to her bait. "I don't see how this affects me. My master cares for me, she has helped me and taught me more than you can ever understand."

The ghost chuckled to herself and looked at me with amusement. "You actually think she cares for you?" Helena looked outright disbelieving.

"She told me so."

Helena blinked rapidly, as if not believing what I just said. "She told you so? She told you so?!" Helena looked at me as if I was two years old. "The two of you fit very well together, if you really are that stupid."

I folded my arms stubbornly. "She has helped me, there is no denying that."

"And why do you think she has helped you? Because she is a good person?" The ghost floated over and stopped right in front of me, mere centimetres from my face. "Has it ever occurred to you that she only helps you because you are the only person who can help her?"

"I do help her, yes. I help her carry on her legacy."

"Really?" Helena asked with pursed lips. "Let me guess, she wants to preserve all of her infinitely valuable wisdom through you. She has so much knowledge which the world cannot afford to lose, right?"

I opened my mouth and shut it again. I glared at her. "I came here to ask you a question."

Helena gestured for me to continue. "Let's hear it, then. What has my mother got you doing for her?"

"Do you know where I can find her diadem?"

The ghost smiled to herself, as if what I said was funny. "Do I know where her diadem is?" She paused and stroked her chin. "No, but I do know where my diadem is."

I rolled my eyes. "Where is it?" I said, my words hard.

"It is inside the room which comes and goes, the one on the seventh floor."

"The room Dumbledore's Army used as a base last year?"

"The very same."

I nodded. "Okay. . . thank you for the help." I frowned, I couldn't resist. "Why do you say it is your diadem?"

The ghost tilted her head. "Because it is my diadem." Then the ghost shrugged. "But it doesn't really matter, it is far from the only, and definitely not the most valuable thing she has stolen from me."

I stared into the ghost's eyes, looking for any trace of the familiar purple I had come to know through my master. There was no hint of it, the ghost was colourless as air. I wondered if Helena used to wear the same colour as my master.

"Let me give you a word of advice, before you leave, Mr. Potter." The ghost smiled, her eyes were fixed somewhere in the past, somewhere in her memories. "You can't trust her. She doesn't care for you, she doesn't care for anybody except herself. Please open your eyes and realise this, the sooner you do, the better for everyone."

I took a step away from the ghost. "You're wrong. I know I can trust her. I have trusted her and everything has turned out great."

Helena shrugged. "If you say so, but think about it, is what you just said really true? I seem to remember her sending you out to face a dragon with no help, after she promised you help." Helena sighed, her face expressing deep sorrow. "My mother only works for her own gain, she just doesn't blatantly do so in front of you."

I shook my head stubbornly. "Why should I believe anything you say? It seems to me as if you hate your mother. What if this is just an attempt to hurt her?"

Helena made an exasperated expression. "I can assure you, she won't be hurt by losing you." She muttered something under her breath I couldn't quite hear. The ghost hovered over to the door ready to leave. "If you want some proof; go and ask your friend how she found the Room of Requirement."

"Why does that–"

She disappeared from view, leaving me alone in the dark room.

I breathed in and out heavily. It felt like I had just run a marathon, my legs were almost shaking and I felt an urgent need to lie down.

My master had a daughter. A very rude daughter, who didn't like her mother at all. I wondered what had happened between them to cause such a rift.

Helena had mentioned that my master had stolen things from her, apart from the diadem. What things were those? Were those things the cause of the conflict?

If so, how could the ghost still be so upset, almost a thousand years later? That was a long time to carry a grudge.

I swallowed. I had to get to the bottom of this. That started with talking to Hermione.

What on earth could my master have to do with Hermione and Dumbledore's Army?

Part of me wanted to forget the entire conversation with Helena; I wanted to forget and carry on without it.

But another part needed to know the truth; and that part was the part that won.

-()-

Throughout the entirety of breakfast, I kept sending Hermione glances coupled with frowns, as if to make sure she was still there and hadn't run off.

I arrived for defence bright and alert, I just longed for classes to finally end so I could get answers.

First, I had a demonstration for Snape.

It went through without a hitch. The red light flew from my wand and struck the target without a hitch. I then rambled on about its effects and that was it. Most of the 'fun' stuff was left for the presentation in three weeks.

I yawned through every one of my classmates' demonstrations. Some were interesting. Neville had to show off a spell which broke both of one's legs. Malfoy had been assigned a curse which tickled you incessantly, to the point where you started to get hurt.

I leaned back in my chair and observed the spectacle without as much as moving a facial muscle. All of these spells were as basic as the alphabet to me, I could do these in my sleep.

Then it was Greengrass' turn to stand up and walk to the front of the classroom. Her movements were rigid and mechanical, her spine straight as a flagpole.

"Hello class." Greengrass remained neutral in front of the class, I thought I could see her gulp. "I…I'm going to demonstrate the, uhh, flaying curse." The girl let out a deep breath, her shoulders visibly relaxed, then tensed again.

Greengrass raised her wand and aimed it at the dummy. "Excorio." Nothing happened. Greengrass was frozen in place. I noticed her hand trembling slightly. She raised her chin, as if the dummy was someone inferior, and she said again, louder, "excorio."

The dark green light flew from her wand and struck the dummy, but not in the chest, as she was supposed to, it struck the right hand.

Greengrass turned back towards the class, she was staring at her feet. "The. . . flaying curse is, uhh, used for flaying people."

I heard someone snigger to the right of me. Corner was practically shaking with silent laughter, next to him, I saw Dean and Seamus in similar states. Even Hermione and Ron looked vaguely amused.

The girl at the front cleared her throat. Her eyes were still glued to the floor. "It was invented in 1217 by Sten, uhh, Björn, a Danish viking." She allowed herself a glance up to look at the class, the girl looked smaller than a first year at the front. I noticed Malfoy sitting at the front with clenched fists.

I spared another glance at Corner who seemingly had trouble breathing.

"The…the flaying curse does not has a direct counter." Greengrass looked up and met my eyes, I inclined my head in some kind of affirmation. She looked down at the floor again. "You should contact a healer if you're ever…uhh…flayed."

She practically ran back to her chair next to Malfoy, it looked like she wanted to sink through the floor.

Corner started an overenthusiastic applause. Many others soon joined him. Seamus even wolf-whistled. I noticed Ron and Hermione exchange a look, they both wore smirks on their faces.

-()-

"Hermione, do you want to go for a walk?"

Hermione almost jerked in surprise. "Suuure. Do you have anything specific you want to talk about?"

I nodded and stood up. "Yup, follow me."

We had to be somewhere with no torches.

We exited the castle and walked over to the lake without a word. I sat down in the sands, staring out over the calm and blank surface.

"Did you find the ghost you were looking for?" Hermione asked as she sat down beside me.

"Yes, I did. Luna knew where to find her."

"That's good, but not why you asked me here, right?"

I nodded. "Not quite, I wanted to ask you something. About last year."

Hermione exhaled slowly. "If this is about Greengrass today–"

"No," I cut her off. "That was also. . . mean of you, but not what I wanted to talk about."

Hermione scoffed. "Mean? You transfigured her face into a pig's and humiliated her, that was mean. And also, she was more than mean to us last year, I can assure you. She more than deserves a little embarrassment, it won't hurt her."

I shook my head with contempt. "If you say so." I cleared my throat. "Hermione, I was wondering, how did you find the Room of Requirement last year?"

Hermione looked at me with an odd expression. "That was what you wanted to talk about?"

"Yes. How did you find it? Did you just stumble over it or…"

Hermione smiled, but there was a hint of smugness in her. "I could tell you."

I gave her a warning look.

"But why shouldI? You don't tell us anything, why should I tell you anything?"

"Are you really going to do this?" I stared into Hermione's eyes, they were full of resolve.

"Yes." Hermione folded her arms. "I will tell you how I found it if you tell me something in return."

I sighed, annoyed. "What do you want to know?"

Hermione's face held no trace of mirth. "What is going on between you and Greengrass? Don't tell me it's 'nothing'."

I swallowed, then sighed with defeat, trying to sound as if I genuinely was giving something up. "After our duel last year, I apologised to her." I frowned, pretended that I was lost in memory. "She made me a deal, that if I walked around with a pig's face for a week, then she would forgive me."

Hermione scoffed. "That was what the feast at the end of last year was about?"

I nodded. "Yes." I shrugged. "What I did to her was wrong and it was eating me up from inside. I wanted her to forgive me, so I allowed her to do it."

"And then?"

I raised my eyebrows. "And then what? There isn't much more to tell. She forgave me, we went our separate ways and put it behind us."

Hermione looked at me through narrowed eyes, searching for any trace of lie. "Okay." She sat up a little straighter in the sand. "So you held up your end of the deal, I will hold up mine." My friend smiled a small smile to herself. "Hogwarts showed me the way."

An icy shiver ran up my spine. "What do you mean?" I whispered, fearing what I was about to hear.

Hermione frowned at me. "Don't worry, it's nothing serious. I was walking back from the library one day, and the castle showed me the way to the room. At first, I thought it was a trap or something. But no, it led me to the seventh floor, right where the room was."

My heart beat loudly in my chest. "What led you there? How do you know that it was the school?"

"Simple, the torches showed me the way."

I whispered, "how did the torches show you?"

Hermione chuckled. "Oh, they just changed colour. They became purple. One after the other they changed colour. . . "

Hermione continued to babble on. I couldn't hear her, she was just a buzz beside me.

Purple.

Purple.

Purple.

There was no doubt. It had to be.

This was why Helena wanted me to know this.

Why had my master helped Hermione and Dumbledore's Army though?

I had made it abundantly clear that I didn't want anyone else involved.

She hadn't told me about either her daughter or helping Dumbledore's Army, what else could she be hiding from me?

Helena sang in my ears, as if she was the one sitting next to me.

My mother only works for her own gain, she just doesn't blatantly do so in front of you.