Wishes
When Sev finished showering he dried his hair and went outside. He went to dress and Jack went to the Library. Meanwhile, Ariel was reading his book on the bed, which he had made, already dressed as well.
"Thanks for making my bed, Ariel."
"You're welcome, Sev. At Jack's I always do it."
He is to eat him, he is worth a million times more than me. More than any of us. How lucky I am that he loves me the way he does. And go find out why.
"I'm going down to the Common Room to wait for Deborah and talk to her. Wait here for me, will you?" That way we don't bother him and we're in a more serious environment.
Sev went downstairs and sat in his corner with his back to the Lake, the Common Room was still empty. Deborah, as he expected, took only a couple of minutes to arrive. (She comes alone and with her backpack, she has not left it in the Library in case I need her to stay home, and surely Valerie and Andrew have taken them to the clearing so as not to waste time. Another good quality of the snakes, which we share with the Raves, we are organized and we know how to make the most of time. I love my House, the Hat hit the mark.)
He waited until she was close to greet her. "What's up, Deborah?"
"That's what I should ask you. How are you?"
"Much better, I've had time to reconsider my mistakes."
Deborah sat across from him. "No mistake, Prince. It's been Jack and Lily."
"Well, I should have told you that I was leaving last night."
"No, you don't have to give us explanations for everything you do. You already live enough locked up."
(And to think that less than two weeks ago she wanted to give me a scolding for sneaking out to play the piano,) Sev thought. (But of course, it's been two weeks, and she knows it's true. I only go out to class, to eat and to do my tasks.) "Thank you for understanding. Jack told you that I wanted to talk to you, didn't he?"
"Yes, that's what he told me."
"Has he told you why?"
"He hasn't," she replied.
(This is how it must be, I am the one who puts and takes away.) "We are going to try to bond to talk, I think that now we will succeed. I'm going to get closer to you."
Sev got up and moved his chair to the narrow part of the table. He leaned on it with his arms, drawing closer to her.
(She doesn't tell me anything, I think she hasn't even succeeded with Anthony yet, and I'm sure she hasn't even tried again with Jack, they get along worse and worse. He now has Lauren and Deborah has openly confronted him this tomorrow in front of everyone, and rightly so.
(I am going to ask her about all of this, I want to build trust with her, I am going to put my life in her hands for the entire month that remains, at maximum risk.) "Come closer, Deborah, and look at me closely."
(She's being moved, we're going to get it.)
She leaned back against the table, too, their eyes less than a foot away.
"Let's go there, don't be in a hurry, whatever it costs us," Sev said.
They mutually tried to penetrate each other's thoughts, as Dumbledore had explained to them. It took them a couple of minutes to get it. (I got her, she's thinking about what happened this morning.)
Sev spoke in his own thought and Deborah did too. "Do you hear me, Deborah?"
"Yes Prince. It's fantastic."
(Very excited. That said, she hadn't gotten it yet.) "How glad I am that we made it. Have you already done it with Anthony?"
"No, you're the first."
(How awful, not even with her boyfriend, they don't get along. It's great that she do it with me, she must be delighted.) "Can you tell me in detail what happened this morning? With your memories," he asked.
"Of course Prince. I'm going there."
(I should take them all to the cave too. When I find the one in the Room of Requirement with Lauren.)
Deborah recalled in her own mind the situations that had occurred that morning, for Sev to see in her mind. From time to time they interrupted to also talk with their thoughts, but the connection was never broken.
At a quarter to nine, Deborah went downstairs to the Common Room. Jack, Anthony, and Andrew were already there, waiting for the girls, Jack visibly upset and very concerned. Deborah and Andrew had tried to calm him down before the rest of Slys left the dorms, especially so he wouldn't worry Ariel. Jack had gotten himself under control, and Deborah had quickly gone to find Valerie, Heather, and Fiona, so that the escort would be out of the house before the others realized something had happened.
They had succeeded, at ten minutes to nine. Once the seven of them had left the house, Deborah had taken them to the Potions classroom to plan the search. She wanted it to be just her and Jack up to the fifth floor, but Jack had been adamantly opposed and they had had a heated argument in full view of everyone else.
"Who has sided with each one?" Sev asked.
"All with me."
"Oh… as it should be."
"That's why I told you that it was Jack's fault," she said.
"But in the end you have gone through the hoop."
"Yes, you know. He is the head of the escort."
"Then it was also my fault, for having made him head," he admitted.
"I think so, any of us has better judgment."
(Very well, she is not afraid to say things to my face. I am not going to keep them quiet either, they should have disobeyed him.) "You should have rebelled, you were six against one. I do not believe in hierarchy if it is not justified by correct decisions. We are Slys, little submissive to authority, free will must prevail."
"You're absolutely right Prince. I'm not going to obey an order of his again if it doesn't seem coherent to me. Neither did Anthony, Valerie or Andrew, who are the ones I've talked to about it."
"Don't worry, you won't do it again. I've already removed him as head escort, and he'll no longer be second in instruction as soon as Frank and Alice learn Occlumency."
"Very well done, Prince."
"Continue with the memories. How has he organized the search?"
Jack had sent each one to a floor, he had insisted on going to the seventh, to the Room of Requirement. Deborah had suggested that they wait to leave after nine, when everyone was already in the Great Hall, and she had chosen to go to the fifth floor, because she knew Prince was there, where he met Lily.
"All very well thought out, Deborah. Of course I was there. Go on."
She had only searched with her Lumos in the corridor where they saw him disappear, the one with the armor, she had checked each classroom and they were all dusty and empty. She had deduced that he had conjured a Fidelius inside the castle.
"Well done, Deborah. That's how it is."
"Don't worry, I haven't told anyone and I don't intend to. Nor appear there again unless there is some emergency like today. It is your private place, your refuge."
"Thank you very much, Deborah. That is loyalty."
(No wonder we have managed to Bond. There has been a great mutual rapprochement today, as a result of the problems that have arisen.) "Please continue."
She had returned to the landing of the stairs before ten past nine, where they had agreed that Jack would pick them up when he came down from the seventh floor so they could all go into the Great Hall together. She had waited for him there until almost twenty past nine, and he had come up and not down, he came from the Great Hall very angry, for receiving the news that Prince had fallen asleep.
"He came down from the seventh floor through the passageway, without telling you to come back with him," Sev deduced. "He hasn't done one right."
"That is. And he still had to go up to the sixth floor to fetch Valerie, who was looking there."
"With which you have arrived at the foot of the stairs after twenty past nine, when everyone was already leaving."
"Well yes. I tried to calm him down on the way and he still yelled at me, but the worst part was that when we got to the bottom of the stairs, Lily, Cecile and Remus were there waiting for us," Deborah explained.
"Yes I already know that. Lily's fault, to try to calm Jack down."
"Well yes. And well that he needed it, she has told him off well, he has paid attention to her. It was mainly his fault. They almost got into an argument in front of everyone because he didn't want to go to the kitchens with her."
"And it would have been better if he hadn't," he said.
"No, Prince. He planned to start commanding with anger, everyone would have found out."
"It would have been a lesser evil. Do you know what has happened?"
"Tell me," she asked.
"That the five malefics were waiting in the Library for me to pass alone to ambush me, and they saw you all pass together."
"Booah…"
"Take it easy, Deborah. Let me tell you in parts. Do not get upset, otherwise the Bond may be broken."
"Okay."
"Do you know who is going for Lily this summer?" Sev told her about Bellatrix, told her that he found out before the mess, reading the vipers.
"What a mess…" she said.
"Don't worry. Dumbledore is going to teach us both how to become invisible."
"You don't know how much I would like to turn seventeen sooner to be able to be part of your escort, because you're both going to need it."
"I know, Deborah, I would too. If it compensates you in something, the month that remains until the summer you will be the head of the school escort. If I had trusted you from the beginning, this would not have happened, it was largely my fault."
"Don't blame yourself, Prince. You have allowed yourself to be carried away by your heart, and for these issues you have to keep your cool, to judge each one impartially. Like me, I didn't trust you until I met you in person, all your history and your reasons for being the way you are. And I'm not an easy person to get to know or have a friendly character."
"Yeah, I know, Deborah. But I've been with you long enough to have appreciated you for what you're worth."
"Yes, but we haven't spent a lot of time with each other, and I understand that. We only saw each other one day a week and you had a lot of people to attend to, and I didn't worry about creating ties with you either. I let Jack get ahead of me, it was both of our faults. If you realize, we haven't fought together since that first morning with the Guard."
"Oh, you're right. My fault again, it was me who commanded the training sessions."
"It's okay, I understand," she reassured him. "You had to teach Lily, Cecile and your fifth grade classmates. I fend for myself."
"Of course. And now I put my life in your hands."
"Count on me for whatever you need. I swear to you that as long as I'm in charge, an episode like the one this morning will not be repeated."
"I do not doubt it. Also tell me what happened at the end of training, with your memories," Sev asked.
Anthony had told Jack on Lily's behalf to hold the escort, and Jack had sent him to tell the fifth-year Slys and told Deborah so she could do it with Valerie and Andrew.
She had done it and had gone back to Jack, who she hadn't spoken to all morning because of the row they'd had earlier in the morning. She had tried to talk to him alone and convince him to go home as soon as possible, the seven of them, in formation and calm, as if Prince were with them, but Jack had insisted on waiting for Lily, he trusted her judgment more, and he hadn't wanted to listen to her.
"How he has screwed it up. You were absolutely right. Go on," he said.
When everyone had already left, they had gone to where the rest of the escort was waiting with Alice, Frank and Cecile, and she had told him off in front of everyone, so that they would be on their way as soon as possible, since she knew that Prince was already in home, or in any case, safe in the Fidelius.
"Of course. Have the others intervened?" Sev asked.
"No, not this time. Later, when I've spoken to Anthony, Valerie, and Andrew, they've told me they didn't because they didn't want to undermine Jack's authority or show disunity before the Gryffs, or contradict Lily. She has been the true leader this morning."
"Well, very badly done. I doubted between Valerie or you for heads, but I no longer have any doubt. It is you who has the best criteria and you are faithful to it. Your heart doesn't beat you."
"Yeah. It is a quality that I will never have, and it is also important," said Deborah.
(She knows how to judge herself. I want to know her horoscope but I'm not going to let her read it, she wouldn't tell me about her characteristics. I'm going to read it myself, to get to know her better.) "When is your birthday?"
"On July twenty-fifth. Why?"
"To give you something," Sev replied.
"Please, Prince, it is not necessary. Besides, we're not going to see each other."
"Why not?"
"Because I don't celebrate my birthday. It is silly," she said.
(Wow. Something in common.) "Well, this year you should, Deborah, you'll come of age."
"Yes, maybe yes. You're right."
"We should meet that day, with whoever you want and where you want, Lily and I can move by Floo" he suggested. "Think about it between now and the end of the term." (Today I'll summon a gift for her, and if we don't meet, I'll give it to her before we say goodbye in the summer.)
"Okay, Prince. I will do that."
(And today I want to give her something else. I'm going to take her to the mirror in the Room of Requirement. Right now. Just the two of us, so I'll take the opportunity to look at myself too now that I have all the information, to see if I'm still seeing Jack.) "Deborah, we are going to escape."
"What are you saying Prince?"
"What you are hearing. Right now. Before those who have gone to Hogsmeade return."
"The two alone?"
"Of course," Sev replied.
"We shouldn't, Prince. Today they were about to catch you."
"Not even close, Deborah, you forget that I have the Map. Don't feel like breaking the rules? You are Sly."
"Okay, Prince. Where are we going?"
"To the Room, to the store. Remember the demand, 'place where things are hidden'."
"Ugh… to the seventh floor. Territory of the malefics."
"Let's see if they're home. We cut the Bond," he said.
They unbonded. Sev took out the Map and spread it out on the table. He spoke, "They are in the rooms of their houses, separated. Do you see?" pointing at them. "The reds and the blues."
"Wow, Prince... You hadn't shown it to me yet."
"Remus's invention. A true wonder, he saved my life this morning." (I have to say it to his face on Monday, so that the guilt he feels about the Shrieking Shack will go away once and for all.)
"Do you see you and me in the Common Room at home?" Sev continued pointing it out. "Green and silver. Our colors."
"It's fantastic."
"Another day we'll look at it together more calmly."
He folded it so that he continued to see the seventh floor. He put the chair in its place and Deborah's backpack on top of it. "No one will touch it here. Let's go, to the third floor and through the passage. You in front, I'll cover your back. Without rushing."
They went. They only passed a couple of Huffles up the stairs. Sev kept checking the Map every so often. They arrived, demanded and entered the store, the door closed behind them.
Sev showed her the Map, showing her the corridor they had just left.
"Do you see? The Room of Requirement does not appear, we are under cover. Come, it's this way, the area where you didn't search."
He led her down the corridor to the right, all the way to the end.
"Wooow… what a mirror…" Deborah exclaimed.
Sev pushed the coat rack away. "Come closer and look at yourself."
(I don't tell her what it's about, she hasn't noticed the inscription, nor do I ask her what she sees, let her tell me if she wants. I'll just observe what face she makes. Absolute astonishment and interest. I'm dying of curiosity, I'm going to ask her when she finish.) He waited a few minutes. (It doesn't finish, I'm going to ask her, I can't take it anymore.) "What are you looking at, Deborah?"
"A skirmish against Death Eaters. I command a group of seven Slys from home, including Valerie and Andrew, and we kill them all. Flying on broomsticks, at night, hundreds of feet high."
"Wooow… How amazing! How I would like to see that. Keep going, keep going until you finish off the last one of them."
"Don't you want to watch with me?" she asked.
"When two people look together, it changes. Finish and we'll look at it together."
Another ten minutes passed. "That's it," she said. "Seven against fifteen, all dead, and us without a scratch. Flying in formation with the Red Magic shield."
"Wonderful! That is what we have to achieve, we have a lot of work ahead of us. Read the inscription backwards."
Deborah did it silently. "Oh! So that's what I desire…"
"Yes, Deborah. The deepest desire of your heart is to be in charge of an invincible squad, and you will achieve it, because you are worth it. Tomorrow we will fight together, I am going to train you thoroughly, in a year you will reach the level of the others. Let me look at myself for just a moment."
Deborah stepped to the side, not looking at Sev. (She's not going to observe my reaction and to ask me. Absolute discretion.) Sev looked at himself and indeed, he no longer saw Jack, but he continued to see four people. Lauren and Lily linked him, and in front of him, whose hands he placed on his shoulders, was Ariel. (This is my family, whom I must keep alive at all costs. I am surprised not to see Mum. Enough, I will see the scene unfold another time, I am not going to keep Deborah waiting, and it sure is more interesting what we'll see together.) "Come on, Deborah. Look at it with me."
They both stood in front of the mirror, without touching. They both saw themselves flying on broomsticks, at night, hundreds of feet high, protected by the shield, hurling curses left and right. Ten Death Eaters were taken out before landing again.
"Wooow… Deborah! What a dumbbell! Give me a hug!"
They hugged. (How happy she is. I have made her happy, I had not seen her laugh since I fought with her that day we met. I do her a lot of good.)
"Thank you, you have infected me with your desire," Sev said. "Let's go, surely the people are back from Hogsmeade."
They went to the door. Sev looked at the entire Map. "The malefics are still in their houses. And yes, in the dungeon room there are people. It's okay, let them tell us something if they dare. It was worth the risk, right?"
"Of course, Prince. How quiet you were."
"For special occasions. Now you know where it is and you can come whenever you want."
"Of course I plan to return."
"Let me know sometime that you do it, I want to share that desire with you again," he said.
"Of course I will."
Sev folded the Map to keep seeing the seventh floor. "Running to the passage and through it. Then calm down. You ahead."
They got out, ran to the third floor, and walked at a normal pace down the main stairs and into the dungeons. This time they passed more people, Raves and Gryffs who were coming home and Slys who were going to the Library after returning from Hogsmeade, but no one said anything to them, they just greeted them.
Sev put the Map away before entering Sly's Room. The table is already full of bottles, and yes, they have also brought whiskey. Disobedient Slys. Good, how are we going to get. I'm getting Deborah drunk tonight.