Ginny opened her eyes, stunned. She felt very dizzy, and her head hurt.

"Look around you, find out where you are."

"Hermione?" she asked out loud. She had heard her friend's voice but couldn't see her.

"Shhh," another girl said. "Don't speak loudly, or they will come for you."

"But-"

"Obey, you must remain silent."

"I must be going crazy," she thought. "I hear Hermione's voice inside my head."

"That's because I'm inside you."

Ginny looked around. She was in a circular stone room closed by imposing dark doors, and there were more girls like her, sitting on the floor.

"How can you be inside me?"

"I don't know. I left my body when I looked at that light on the wall, and I couldn't get back to it, so I joined the first living being I could find."

"But... Are you alive?"

"I think so. If it weren't like that, I could have left. My body is still alive."

Ginny looked at the other girls. They were younger than her and she didn't know them at all, but from their appearance she guessed that they were muggles.

"Do you know where we are?"

"No. I see the same things as you. We'll have to wait for something to happen."

They didn't have to wait long, because a few minutes later, the doors opened, and some men entered. Or at least, they looked like men.

"Why are they acting so strange?"

"I don't know," Hermione's voice wavered. "Ginny, I don't think they're human."

Ginny instinctively reached for her wand to defend herself, but it had been taken from her. She had to obey as they forced her to her feet and dragged her out of the room. Strangely, she didn't feel as scared as she should. Having two Gryffindors inside her head had to help.

The strange men took them into a gigantic cavern, whose bell-shaped roof was supported by numerous stone columns.

"The Department of Mysteries!" both recognized the place by the drawing of the columns.

Spread across the cavern floor, they could see many more girls, sitting in groups. Some were very young, under ten years old. The guardian guiding them pushed them next to a small group of girls dressed in Hogwarts uniforms, and Ginny recognized a Hufflepuff student.

"Are you Weasley?"

"And you Abbot?"

"Quiet!" the man's shout silenced them, although some of the younger girls continued crying.

"My name is Susan," the girl whispered.

"I'm Ginny, do you know how many people are here?" Ginny looked around, trying to get an idea of how many girls were in the cave, but the columns blocked her view.

"I don't know, they barely let us move. I've only seen girls, both muggles and witches. Those girls over there are from a muggle school," Susan pointed to one of the largest groups, made up of fifteen girls, who were sitting near them. "They were attacked a few days ago, but they say the guards separated them and left the boys behind."

"What do they want us for?"

"No idea. I've seen that sometimes they take a girl through those other doors over there" Susan pointed to another pair of doors that stood menacingly at the other end of the cavern. "But those who leave never return."

The other three Hogwarts students approached them, and Ginny recognized Loreen Leyne, a Hufflepuff student, Pamela Arson, from Ravenclaw, and the youngest of them all, Rita Burke, from Slytherin.

"I think they are going to sell us. It's the only logical option," said Loreen.

"Sell us for what?" Susan opened her eyes wide, terrified, and Rita burst into tears.

"Well, you know..." Ginny didn't want to continue listening. Even with Hermione's presence she couldn't control the trembling of her body. But Hermione continued to look around through her eyes.

"Do no one see that those men have gray skin?"

"They look normal to me, " Ginny replied.

"Take a good look at them. They look like... zombies."

"Hermione, they are very strange men, but their skin has no strange color."

"Silence everyone!" shouted the one closest to them. Susan, Loreen, and Rita fell silent, shrinking into themselves. None of them wanted to be the next to be chosen.

ooo

Severus had kept his word. After revealing the whereabouts of the last five death eaters, he avoided talking about the Lady entirely.

To those who knew he had been searching for her, he swore he had found nothing, and let them mock him for wasting his time. But his objective had been achieved, and finally the Ministry stopped following him.

However, a new spy had become his shadow. The house-elf Win had located him and followed him everywhere. Severus had tried to expel or threaten her, but she was always faster. There came a time when he felt her watchful gaze at all hours.

He didn't know what this nosy little elf was up to, but he was worried that someone would notice her presence. It had taken him a lot to earn Dumbledore's trust, and finally the other professors were beginning to treat him like one of their own. He didn't want everything to be ruined by the presence of that stupid elf.

But she didn't seem to get tired, not even when the school year ended, and the holidays arrived. Severus knew that she entered his house, despite the protective shields, and rummaged through his belongings.

Angry, he decided to get to the source of the problem, and after using a portkey and several disappearances at strategic points, he returned to Hawaii once again, and waited until nightfall to knock on the house's door.

Hellen looked surprised to see him, and he felt a hint of satisfaction as he saw the smile disappear from her face.

"You again? What do you want now?"

"How dare you?" he whispered, with his coldest and most intimidating voice. "Do you think you can keep an eye on me without consequences?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You sent your elf to spy on me," she looked at him bewildered, as if she didn't understand what he was talking about. She turned to look at Win, and Severus opened his eyes, surprised. How had she been able to travel so fast?

"That is true? Are you spying on him?"

"Win doesn't trust Mr. Snape, miss. Win wants to make sure that Mr. Snape won't betray her."

"We made a deal," he hissed, furious. "I always keep what I promise."

"Mr. Snape still has the lock of the miss' hair," the house-elf replied. "The miss will not be safe as long as she can be located."

Hellen crossed her arms, raising her eyebrows.

"I think Win is right. Your word alone is not enough for me. Give me my hair back."

"It's my insurance against you," he protested angrily.

"That doesn't reassure me at all," for the first time, the woman's expression became inflexible. Maybe the idea of having him cornered gave her security.

They looked into each other's eyes, not wanting to give in to their duel of wills. Severus knew that this problem had a difficult solution. Both had reasons to distrust the other, and it was possible that they would never rest easy.

But the more he looked at her, the more he realized that he had to change tactics and try to reach an agreement. After all, there had to be something she wanted.

"Would you trust me if I did you a favor?" he offered. She was skeptical.

"What kind of favor?"

"I could heal your eye and your scar," she seemed surprised by that sudden offer, but immediately returned to her skeptical pose.

"I don't need your help," she replied.

"Are you sure?" remembering their encounter months ago, Severus raised his right hand, but this time she was ready, and smacked him.

"I haven't seen out of this eye since I was four years old. I'm used to it, and I can live with it perfectly."

"I don't believe you. I'm sure you often get dizzy and have trouble focusing when reading or looking into the distance. I've seen how you move, always reaching out to avoid tripping. You're constantly worried that no one will notice that you can't see," Severus listed, whispering under his breath. "Besides, I don't even want to imagine the pain that such a scar produces... and the effort it takes to camouflage the wound. Is it the elf who maintains the camouflage charm? Do you know that that magical trail led me to you in the first place?" for a moment, she was speechless, not knowing how to respond. Win had stood next to her protectively, saying nothing.

The woman looked him up and down, as if seeing him for the first time. She frowned and bit her lip, hesitating. It was clear that Hellen was considering his words, and Severus waited expectantly, trying to hide his nervousness.

"Are you sure you could heal me?" she asked finally, and Severus released the air from his lungs, relieved.

"I must study the injury before I can assure you anything," he made a gesture, indicating that he wanted to enter the house.

Hellen hesitated, still not completely convinced, but after exchanging a look with Win, she finally stepped back to let him into the living room. He scanned the room with his dark eyes, making sure there were no traps.

"It is better that you lie down."

Hellen leaned back on the couch, and he pulled out a chair to sit near her head.

He pulled out his wand and brought it up to the woman's face, suddenly very aware of the house-elf's presence behind him. He didn't need to listen to her threat, he knew that Win would attack him if he did anything suspicious.

"I need you to remove the camouflage charm," he muttered, looking over his shoulder.

The house-elf moved her hands, and Hellen's face returned to what he remembered, with the dark scar across her left cheek, and the white eye.

Severus murmured a few words, as he waved his wand slightly. He studied the wound thoroughly for endless minutes, and neither of them dared to say anything.

Finally, he sat up, putting his wand away.

"There will be no problem recovering the original appearance of your face. The scar is deep, caused by dark magic, but I'm sure I can reduce it almost completely. Healing the eye is going to be more complicated, and I cannot guarantee that you will fully recover your vision. However, I promise to try," he added, seeing that she opened her mouth to protest. "And in exchange, you and your elf will leave me alone."

"How long will it take you?"

"I can't say for sure. I need to prepare several potions before starting. I'll be back as soon as I'm ready."

ooo

Harry had locked himself in his bedroom and drawn the bed curtains to avoid being interrupted. Under the light of his wand, he searched desperately on the Marauder's map, scanning each room and each corridor, reading each and every one of the names that moved around. He tried to find Ginny in every way, but it didn't seem like the girl was at Hogwarts.

He also had at his side a parchment with the names of the other four missing students: Susan Abbot, Loreen Leyne, Pamela Arson and Rita Burke, so as not to forget that he also had to look for them.

Ron had stayed in the infirmary, with Hermione. He had not been able to separate himself from her, despite nurse Pomfrey 's insistence, and remained at her side, talking to her, trying to get her to react.

Hermione was the only witness to his sister's disappearance, but Harry knew his friend too well to think that his concern was solely due to Ginny's kidnapping.

And as much as he would have liked to stay to accompany Hermione, Harry sensed that his presence would be more of a hindrance than anything else, so he had excused himself with the task that the Lady had given him to return to the Gryffindor common room.

Harry growled desperately. Despite spending countless hours studying the map, he couldn't find Ginny, or any of the other students. All his efforts were proving useless, and Harry was beginning to wonder if perhaps it would be wise to look for them in the Chamber of Secrets or the Room of Requirement, since those rooms did not appear on the map.

Ruffling his hair, Harry stretched his back and folded the map in half, thinking that maybe he should leave it for the night and go to sleep. Then, by pure chance, he saw a small sign with Severus Snape's name appearing on the Hogwarts grounds.

Suddenly full of energy, Harry turned his attention to the map and followed the progress of the small sign, watching Snape move through the grounds, on his way to the school gates.

Harry was very curious to know what the Potions Master was up to. He still clearly remembered Dumbledore's discomfort when he had not been able to explain his sudden absence and deduced that Snape must be acting on his own behind the headmaster's back.

On impulse, Harry put on the invisibility cloak and went out to meet him. After leaving the Gryffindor common room, he consulted the map again, and saw that, instead of going down to the dungeons, Snape was going up the stairs of the Hall, so he deduced that he was going to Dumbledore's office.

Moving as quickly as possible, Harry tried to get ahead of the professor. He didn't know if he would be able to sneak into the headmaster's office, or what he would do if he was discovered, but he had to try. His curiosity was stronger than caution or fear of being reprimanded.

However, halfway there, Harry came across the silvery glow of what must have been Snape's patronus, and stopped dead, studying the map again. He saw that the professor had passed in front of Dumbledore's office without stopping.

Illuminating the map carefully, Harry studied the most likely route, and realized that Snape was heading towards the Lady's office.

Modifying his course, Harry managed to reach Snape and followed him in silence, somewhat behind, so that the professor would not hear him. He felt his heart pounding in his ears, and he tried by all means to leave his mind blank, just in case.

It wasn't the first time that Snape seemed to guess that Harry was close to him, even if he was hidden under the invisibility cloak.

Harry noticed that Snape was carrying a small bundle in his arms, wrapped in his cloak, and for a moment, the image of Wormtail carrying lord Voldemort came to mind. Harry suppressed a shudder and reminded himself that it couldn't be the same thing, since Voldemort had recovered his body. Besides, not even Snape would dare to do such a ritual at Hogwarts, under Dumbledore's gaze.

Furthermore, the behavior of both magicians could not be more different. Wormtail had expressed disgust and terror as he picked up Voldemort, and yet Snape carried his burden as something precious and delicate, despite the seriousness of his face.

Still surprised, Harry was startled when he saw the Lady quickly advancing in their direction.

The woman's face wore an unmistakable sign of concern, and when her eyes landed on the bundle Snape was carrying, the Lady stopped suddenly, covering her mouth with her hands to stifle an anguished exclamation.

Breathing heavily, the Lady staggered over to Snape, reaching out for the bundle. She hugged it to her chest, and her face contorted into a display of anguish and pain. A muffled moan left her lips, as if she were hurt.

Harry opened his eyes in shock, seeing that the Lady was crying. She clung to the bundle tightly, sobbing with her face buried in it. Her suffering was latent and genuine. Crying, she shrank in on herself, causing the cloak to slip and revealing the small, inert body of the house-elf Win.

Harry remembered the day he had seen Mrs. Weasley crying in front of the boggart that assumed the form of her children. The Lady was acting in a similar way, as if she had lost a loved one, and Harry couldn't help but feel a slight pressure at the base of his throat.

Snape approached her and gently placed a hand on her arm, murmuring something. Harry thought they were words of comfort, and he was surprised to see an expression of pity on the professor's face.

Then, far away in the hallway, they heard screams and bangs that made them alert. It sounded like someone was trying to break down a door. Snape frowned, and drawing his wand, he gently pushed the Lady away.

Harry hesitated about what to do, as they were walking away down the hallway, but his curiosity was greater, and he followed the sound of the screams, to see what was happening.

A few meters ahead, Harry was able to cautiously peek around a corner, and saw Alecto, banging on the door of the Lady's office, trying to force it open.

"You cannot do it! You can't imprison my brother!" she shouted. Near her, professors McGonagall and Sprout looked at her with worried faces, wands at the ready, but without intervening.

The death eater raised her wand, shaking it like a whip, and attacked the door, again and again, unleashing all her fury against it, but the wooden blade resisted her attack imperturbably.

Harry knew that Alecto would not achieve anything, since the Lady was not there, and deciding that there was not much else to see, and that professors McGonagall and Sprout could take care of the death eater without his help, he decided to follow the other couple.

Harry backed down the hallway until he found a safe space behind a statue, where he could study the map in peace.

Opening the parchment, he ran his eyes over the drawing of the corridors and stairs, until he found what he was looking for. Snape and the Lady were heading to the castle gates.

ooo

True to his word, Severus rented a room on the same island so he could be closer to Hellen and prepare the potions in peace.

It was very expensive and tiring to travel between England and Hawaii every day, and this way he could pretend that he was enjoying his summer holidays, just as he had done in previous years.

Win continued to watch him, even appearing inside his room, but Severus ignored her, convinced that she did so to get revenge for his previous harassment of her mistress.

Diligently, Severus continued with his work, and a few days later he returned to Hellen's house, ready to begin treatment.

They positioned themselves again in the same way, she lying down, and he sitting next to her, and Hellen waited expectantly for him to line up all the little bottles next to her.

"I'm going to apply several things to you," Severus explained, with the same cold and monotonous voice with which he taught lessons at Hogwarts. "On the one hand, a potion to heal your eye, and then several ointments to make the scar disappear. I will need to reinforce the effect of the potions with various spells. I can't guarantee that it will be painless," he warned her, but she nodded. What was there to lose by trying? If they could at least reduce the size of the scar, she wouldn't need to wear the camouflage charm.

Very carefully, Severus opened her eyelids, and one by one, he deposited the drops of the potion on the gray eye. When he finished, he let Hellen close her eye, and wiped her cheek with a piece of gauze.

"Do you feel anything?"

"A kind of tickling, but it's not painful."

"Good. Now I will focus on the scar."

With the same care, he applied one of the ointments, completely covering the wound. Then he murmured a spell, to enhance the healing effect of the potion.

"It is not going to be a quick process. The curse that produced it was very powerful, and it still remains on your skin. It may have to be broken with several spells."

"I know I shouldn't expect miracles, but I would be content to stop feeling pain. Sometimes the burning sensation prevents me from sleeping."

"That explains the presence of the anesthetic charm. Is your face always half asleep?"

"Only when I can't stand the pain. It's much worse than a toothache."

"How did you get such a wound?" Severus asked, while preparing the second ointment.

"My father did it to me."

Severus looked at her askance, still shaking the ointment.

"While he was training you?" he dared to ask, while he began to carefully apply the ointment to the scar.

"No. It was because I asked him if he loved me."

His hand trembled imperceptibly, but he managed to hide it and continue applying the cream in silence.

"Not all parents are kind to their children," he finally murmured. They remained silent while the ointment dried. "You should be careful with the sun, especially in the eye. You should wear a patch to cover it."

"Win can cast a spell on the patch to make it invisible," the elf suggested.

"There's no need. I'll tell Kapono that I've had surgery. It will be easier to explain, and I won't need to carry another spell."

"It's your decision," he conceded. Then he looked at the woman's face carefully and frowned. "I remembered that your right eye was darker in color."

Hellen raised her eyebrows and looked at him mockingly.

"How observant," she mocked, making the man frown in annoyance. However, Hellen felt that he deserved an explanation. "You're right, my eye was darker, it was due to the influence the Dark Lord had on me. When he disappeared, my eye returned to its normal appearance."

"Is it true that you were linked to him?"

"Constantly," she looked into his eyes. "It is not an experience that I remember with joy."

He didn't say anything, but he didn't insist on his questioning either. It was clear that this was not a topic she found pleasant to remember. Hellen sat up carefully, realizing that Win had set the table.

"What are you doing?"

"It's getting very late, miss, and Win thinks Mr. Snape might want something to eat before he leaves."

He accepted the offer, if only to irritate the woman, but Hellen angrily shoved Win into a corner.

"Why do you invite him? I don't want him to stay."

"Win thinks that Mr. Snape will be more willing to help if we are nice to him."

"Nice? After you've been spying on him?"

"The circumstances are different, miss. Mr. Snape is keeping his word," Win lowered her ears, in a pleading and pitiful gesture, and Hellen pursed her lips, not wanting to argue further.

"Okay, he can stay. But don't let it happen again."

ooo

Harry ran as silently as he could, covering himself with his cloak, and reached the castle gates just in time to see the couple walking away across the dark grounds. Snape put an arm around the Lady's shoulders, guiding her in the direction of the Forbidden Forest.

Harry knew he couldn't follow them without giving away his position, but he wasn't about to give up.

"Accio Firebolt," he murmured, waving his wand. After a few minutes, his broom came flying towards him, and Harry was able to get on, covering himself as best he could with his cloak.

He took flight and flew over the trees, flying in circles to find the couple's trail. He finally spotted the glow of Snape's wand below him, and followed it silently, flying close to the treetops.

Snape and the Lady entered the forest, walking slowly and away from paths and busy areas, until they finally stopped in front of a particularly large tree.

Harry carefully slipped through a gap between the branches, and peered in silence, adjusting his cloak so that his feet could not be seen.

He watched as Snape waved his wand, opening a small trench in the ground at the foot of the tree. The Lady descended into the hole and knelt, still hugging Win to her chest. Her body shook with sobs, and the woman said something in a broken voice that Harry couldn't understand. Her pain was evident, and for a moment, Harry felt compassion for her.

Snape's face was not visible, but the professor waited patiently, without intervening, until the Lady placed Win on the floor and covered her with the cloak. Then, he helped the woman out of the ditch, and with a wave of his wand, covered the hole with dirt.

The Lady extended a hand, and tiny white flowers covered the small grave. Then Snape put a hand on her back, and the Lady hugged him, sobbing with her face buried in his chest. Snape hugged her, rubbing her back.

Harry thought he understood, for the first time, some words choked in the middle of sobs.

"They caught her... they took her away," she lamented. Snape hugged her tightly, whispering something in her ear that Harry couldn't hear.

They remained like this for several minutes, until it started to rain. Very slowly, they both returned to the castle.

Harry stood still for a long time, floating among the branches, and looking at the small mound covered in white flowers before deciding to move too.

By then, his clothes were completely soaked through from the rain, and he was shivering from the cold, but Harry didn't notice, absorbed as he was in trying to make sense of what had happened.

What he had just witnessed was very difficult to take in, and he didn't know how to interpret it. He kept thinking about the Lady, crying for a house-elf, and the death eater comforting her.

When he returned to Hogwarts, he found that the doors and windows were closed, preventing him from entering and he had to fly to Hosmeade, to enter the castle through the candy shop tunnel.

Harry looked at the map again, to see which was the safest way back, and found Dumbledore in the hospital wing. After evaluating the situation for a few moments, Harry decided to go talk to the headmaster.

It took him a long time to reach the infirmary, and when he finally did, he did not dare to interrupt Dumbledore, since the headmaster was attending to Hermione, murmuring incantations next to her stretcher.

Ron had fallen asleep in a chair, with Hermione's hand in his, and Harry decided to wait quietly by his side, without waking him.

After a few endless minutes, Dumbledore shook his head in defeat and walked away from Hermione.

"What's wrong Harry?" his eyes focused on his wet clothes, and the invisibility cloak and the broom that he clutched in his hands. The boy chose his words carefully.

"Sir, tonight I saw how Sna ... Professor Snape returned to the castle."

"Really?" Dumbledore gestured for him to accompany him to the other end of the infirmary, so as not to disturb Ron and Hermione.

"Yes sir, and he called the Lady to meet him. The house-elf who accompanied her has died, sir," he added. "Apparently she was very important to her."

"So that's why he's been absent from school," Dumbledore commented, stroking his beard. "Did you see what happened next?"

"They went to bury the house-elf in the Forbidden Forest," Harry did not dare to comment on the strangest part of all. He had seen how she and Snape hugged each other, as if... "Sir, when they buried her, she said someone had taken her away. I think she was referring to the elf. I think..." Harry hesitated, not knowing how to continue.

"What is your theory, Harry?"

"I believe that the house-elf disappeared because of the runes, sir, and that is why she died," Harry was aware of the intensity with which the headmaster was observing him. There was something in those blue eyes that intimidated him, but he continued talking anyway. "What I don't understand... well, this morning she told Snape... Professor Snape, that she couldn't find her, and that's why he went to look for her, but how did he know where to look?"

"That's a very good question, Harry," Dumbledore was still thoughtful, and he didn't wear his usual smile. On the contrary, he seemed serious, and perhaps a little upset.

Harry knew that, despite protecting Snape, the events of the last few weeks had made him rethink many things. What he didn't understand was why he didn't tell Dumbledore the entirety of what he had seen. Why did he protect that secret?

"Harry, stay here, please. Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger might need help. I'm serious, Harry, no more adventures tonight," he insisted, with a serious look, and Harry had no choice but to obey.

There was something in Dumbledore's look that worried him, and his common sense told him that it was unwise to challenge the headmaster that night.

Dumbledore left for Snape's office, thoughtful. Harry was right. How had Snape known where to look for the house-elf? Why had he gone looking for her? What if Snape knew the whereabouts of the missing girls and didn't say anything?

The first rays of sunlight were streaming through the window when Dumbledore entered the office. To his surprise, the professor was not there, even though he must have been preparing for the start of his first lesson.

Looking at the clock, Dumbledore decided that Snape must be awake by now, and anyway, he needed to question him before he disappeared again.

Muttering a spell, he removed the bookcase that covered the door that led to the bedroom and did not wait for an answer before entering. He was too angry to be polite.

The problem was that he then came face to face with what Harry hadn't told him and discovered that Snape had a lot to explain.