Chapter Twenty Four
"Draco!" Daphne beamed, all thoughts of removing her make up or studying long gone, "You're in my mirror!"
Draco grinned, "And you're in mine!"
"Daphne!" Harry said, peering closely into the mirror, Draco grabbing the back of his top and pulling him back, "Hi! Hermione! Daphne's in the mirror!"
"Mhat mm ou maing amout?" Hermione called through from the bathroom, her mouth full of toothpaste.
"I mean… Daphne is in the mirror." Harry said rolling his eyes.
"As in she's trapped or… oh give me a minute!" Hermione yelled.
She finished brushing her teeth and padded through to the boys room, joining them around the small mirror.
Daphne laughed, "Well this is a surprise. I wonder what on earth has caused this?"
"Do you think Dumbledore knew?" Draco suggested, "That's why he gave us the mirrors?"
Harry nodded, "That would make so much sense."
"He could of let us know more clearly if that were the case!" Daphne huffed, yet another thing that Dumbledore had left for them to work out themselves.
"Why hadn't it worked before though?" Hermione asked.
"Well I've not used the mirror before." Daphne shrugged, "Maybe it was working just stuffed in my suitcase?"
"No…" Draco frowned, "Well, it can't of helped… but Winky said something… she said… Dumbledore had told her it wouldn't work unless the mirror was intact. And there was a piece missing from mine, she used it to find us."
"Winky said it wouldn't work properly, not that it wouldn't work at all." Hermione corrected, "Maybe it was the mix of it being stuck in the trunk and Draco's being broken?"
Daphne chewed her lip for a moment before sighing and shaking her head, "I doubt we'll ever really know, and I don't care. The main thing is it's working now. I can talk to you all!"
"It's so good to see you Daphne." Harry grinned, "How's it been?"
Daphne shrugged, "Tough, really tough. Umbridge is back."
"Seriously?" Draco gasped, Harry and Hermione exchanging worried looks.
Daphne nodded, "Sounds stupid but I was kind of prepared for there to be Death Eaters here, like the Carrows, but it threw me completely seeing her again. Prison did not improve her that is for sure."
"Are her quills back?" Harry asked, clutching his hand into a fist, the lines carved into the back of his hand showing pure white.
Daphne looked down, "I don't know, we've all been doing our best to avoid trying to find out. The female Carrow, Alecto, she likes to smack rulers against the back of hands. Neville has had two bruises for ages."
"What about… Snape?" Harry asked softly.
"I've not really seen him much." Daphne said truthfully, "Enough about me. I know all about me already! How are you three? Why did Winky come and find you?"
"She brought us this." Hermione said, pulling the Slytherin scram sax out and showing it to Daphne.
"That was good of her. Why?" Daphne laughed.
"It kills Horcruxes." Draco grinned.
"You've got one haven't you?" Daphne said, hope and excitement bubbling up inside her, "Is that what you were doing at the Daily Prophet? I knew it!"
Harry, Draco and Hermione nodded.
"Draco got it in the end." Hermione explained, "It was touch and go and the stuff they are pushing out, about muggles and muggle borns… it was horrible."
"And then killing the thing was rough." Harry added, "It kept showing us these horrible things, about people we loved."
"And then, I stabbed it." Draco smirked, giving a little bow.
Daphne felt like crying; she was so happy to see her friends, to revel in their success. It also brought up just how lonely she was.
"I don't suppose now we can talk this way… there's any chance Pansy could come back to school?" Daphne said, thinking to herself more than actually asking the question, "No… I don't think I even want her to be coming here, not right now."
"Well… at least you can talk to us now ." Draco said softly, trying to give her a sad half smile but ending up just looking pitying.
"And I am most grateful to it." Daphne smiled, "It's just so weird here. Everyone seems to be trying to ignore it but it's… it's in the air. This never ending feeling of doom, desperation and loneliness."
"You can make it through this." Harry assured her.
"I've started training people." Daphne said, barely audibly, "Like the DA but not… we're calling it the Hogwarts Wolf Pack. I read the term in one of Lily's muggle history books."
"Please be careful." Hermione asked.
"We will be." Daphne promised them, "But we couldn't just sit and wait. We all needed to do something."
"I think we can all relate to that feeling." Harry smirked.
"So do you know where the next Horcrux is?" Daphne said, quickly changing the subject to stop herself getting upset.
"We… we're not sure." Harry shrugged.
"We think that another Death Eater might have one." Draco put in, "My bet is on Bellatrix."
"I think I'd have to put my money in that basket as well." Daphne said, nodding along.
"The problem is there's not really anyway to get into her vault to check, see if we can prove the theory right." Harry said, "And destroy the Horcrux if it was in there of course."
"I don't suppose there is any sign of something that could be Ravenclaw's there? Or Hufflepuff's cup thing?" Hermione asked.
Daphne tried to think before shaking her head, "No. Although I must admit, I've not been looking as much as I possibly should have been."
"We'll come to you when we've exhausted all other options." Draco told her with a smile, "We figure once we're actually in Hogwarts, we won't be getting out without a fight."
"I think you're right there." Daphne sighed, "Well this has been a very depressing talk. And here I was thinking you'd cheer me up!" she laughed.
Harry, Draco and Hermione laughed as well. They spent another half an hour filling each other in about anything and everything. Daphne explained that Pansy, William and Cho had had to go shopping for new camping equipment early on, but were now doing really well.
"Someone's coming." Daphne said quickly, hearing footsteps on the stone steps outside, "I'll talk to you soon. Stay safe."
"You too!" Harry, Hermione and Draco called as Daphne shoved the mirror into her school back and pulled out her books, finishing wiping off the last traces of make up that she'd forgotten about while talking to her friends.
Millicent opened the door, and flopped on her bed, dumping out a load of text books onto the floor by her bed.
"Rough day?" Daphne asked pleasantly, pretending to look over a case study for Muggle Studies.
Millicent glared at her, "I don't know why we have to bother with all this stuff." she huffed.
"School? Well, learning is somewhat important." Daphne smiled, managing to control her sarcasm.
"Not really." Millicent said honestly, "It's never going to matter when the Dark Lord finally has full control."
Daphne's smiled slipped from her face. She didn't mean when Voldemort finally had full control; he already had that, should he chose to use it. She meant once Harry was dead.
"Well if we don't learn all this stuff, who will teach our children?" Daphne pointed out, "They might turn into muggle lovers."
"You mean like you are?" Millicent spat, "Don't think we don't all know how much you're missing your traitorous friends, that you and Neville aren't up to something! You're a Greengrass for gods' sake!"
Daphne glared at the girl flopped on the bed. Millicent wasn't ugly exactly, she'd always been big boned, and slightly plain looking but if she wore clothes that suited her, and learned to apply make up so she didn't look like a painted china doll she would be quite pretty.
However her nastiness seeped out in her face. She always looked like she was about to stab you in the back, which she possibly was on occasion. She was always sucking up to whoever she thought was closest to being in charge, she drank power like she needed it to live and it was not attractive in the slightest.
It was this need for closeness to power that had led to Millicent and Tracy being friends, but now that was mostly over.
More and more often Tracy was as alone as Daphne was, refusing to grovel at the Lestranges' feet like everyone else did. Daphne thought the time alone might do Tracy some good if she was being honest.
"I'm going to go get ready for bed." Daphne said, as Millicent still glared at her.
Daphne brushed her teeth in the busy bathroom as girls milled around her, getting themselves ready for bed.
Millicent was distracted trying to suck up to Tracy by the time that Daphne got back, meaning she could slip into bed unnoticed and pull the curtains shut around her, blocking out the world.
It was far earlier than it should have been as the school bell woke Daphne up, the sound screaming through the dorm.
Daphne lit her wand and peered at the small clock by the side of her bed; four-fifteen.
"What is going on?" Millicent snapped, pulling off her eye mask and looking around.
Daphne didn't know any more than anyone else did, "It's not the fire alarm."
"Yes, we can all tell that, thank you." Tracy snapped, rolling her eyes, flicking her wand and lighting the large light in the middle of the dorm.
"Get dressed and report to the Great Hall now!" Alecto Carrow snapped, throwing open the door to the dorm, a large ring filled with keys in her hand.
"It's the middle of the night!" Tracy pointed out, earning her a glare from Alecto.
"Do as you are told. NOW!" Alecto slammed the door behind her, they could hear her stomping up to the next set of beds.
Daphne quickly pulled on her school uniform and stuffed her feet into her shoes, making sure the mirror was tucked in her school bag under her bed before dragging a brush through the sides of her hair so her plait didn't look too messy and heading out the dorm.
It was clear that the whole school had been woken as the Great Hall was packed with tired looking students. The four tables were gone, instead the students standing in neat lines with the others in their house, getting smacked by a Carrow if they weren't being neat enough.
The teachers table was worryingly empty. Only Snape, Umbridge were there, glaring angrily at the students. The Carrows slammed the doors to the Great Hall shut and took their place on the right hand side of Snape.
Daphne looked around instinctively for Astoria, but she was nowhere to be seen making her pulse race painfully. A quick look over to the Gryffindor group and she could see that Neville and Matthew were there, but Thomas wasn't.
"Corvus!" Daphne hissed.
Corvus turned to face her, looking even more pale than normal, his lip bleeding slightly from where he'd been biting it.
"Have you seen Astoria anywhere?" Daphne asked, her heart hammering in her chest.
Corvus looked sadly at her, "I'm so sorry… I didn't-"
"Come and stand here, Corvus." Gemini called, smirking at Daphne.
She looked just as threatening in her nightdress as she normally did, clearly having ignored the instruction to get dressed. Several of her followers were offering her their outer robes, Daphne suspected she'd not gotten dressed for that very reason.
Corvus ripped his eyes away from Daphne and went to stand next to his sister without another word. Daphne clutched at her hands in front of her, trying to keep her breathing steady as she currently felt like she was on the edge of hyperventilating.
"This evening," Snape's voice rang out over the hall, "Or should I say, this morning, four students attempted, and failed, to break into my office and steal my private possessions."
Amycus Carrow marched across the stage and dragged four scared students from the small room off the Great Hall.
Daphne let out a gasp as all the air rushed from her body. One of them was Astoria. Her hair was a mess and she had a black eye from somewhere but it was definitely Astoria. Thomas was there as well, glaring out at the students bravely. Daphne couldn't breathe, she tried to push her way forward, towards her sister.
Gemini and Rodolphus blocked her way, their friends shoving her further back. Daphne wasn't sure if they Astoria could see her, the fear in her eyes, but she knew calling out to Astoria would be a terrible idea, however much she wanted to.
Amycus shoved the four students to the front of the stage, causing one of them, a Gryffindor, to fall flat on his face.
"Such behaviour will not be tolerated." Snape snapped, "It is beneath all of you and brings you all nothing but shame."
"Rest assured boys and girls," Umbridge purred, "These four, vile and disgusting things will be punished. We will not allow their mud to contaminate any of you."
Snape's eyes flicked to the very pink woman before glaring back at the students, "This is a warning, and I suggest you all take it. This is the last time such a punishment, for behaviours that effect the entire school, will be punished in private. After this, most punishments will be preformed here, as a warning to you all."
Snape gave a sharp nod to Amycus who stomped forwards, shoving detention slips into the four students' hands.
"Last warning." Snape hissed, "Now get to bed all of you."
Daphne made sure that she was the last out of the hall before the four students that had tried to break into Snape's office. She walked carefully, slowing her pace just enough to be able to drag Astoria into a mostly empty store room as they walked passed. Daphne flicked her wand over the door, sealing it and blocking any sound from escaping before turning to her sister.
"What the hell were you doing?!" Daphne hissed, "Are you all right? Did they hurt you?"
Astoria's lip quivered, "Umbridge got a smack in but otherwise I'm fine." she mumbled.
Daphne softly raised her sister's head, running her thumb over the darkened skin, "It'll heal. And it could have been an awful lot worse."
Astoria nodded and wiped the tears from her face. She'd never been smacked before, it hadn't hurt as much as she thought it would of when it happened, but hurt a lot more than she'd been expecting now.
"What were you doing? That were you thinking? Were you thinking at all?!" Daphne asked again, annoyance and terror fighting each other in her brain.
"Thomas heard them talking, about Snape looking after something, something that Dumbledore had tried to give away but even the old Ministry hadn't let him. And then you'd said about Harry not getting what was his from Dumbledore." Astoria explained.
"When did I say that?" Daphne asked.
"In your sleep." Astoria smirked, "You mumble."
"Good to know." Daphne said, rolling her eyes and making a mental note to make sure her bed curtains were sound proof from now on and thinking twice before allowing Astoria to sleep in her room any more, "But why?"
Astoria shrugged, "We thought if we could find whatever it was, we could get it to Harry somehow, to help."
"You are insane!" Daphne huffed, throwing her hands in the air, "You didn't even know what you were looking for!"
"We knew the second we saw it!" Astoria snapped, getting defensive, "It was Slytherin's scram sax, it had to be. Why else would Severus of put such a strong alarm spell on it?"
Daphne froze, "Wait… the scram sax was in the office? You're sure?"
Astoria nodded, "Yes. Of course. I touched it."
Daphne's head was going at a million miles an hour and another headache was starting to throb in her temple, "I see… I still think what you did was really stupid."
Astoria snorted a laugh, "Yeah so do I…now."
"You have to promise me that you won't do something like this again." Daphne said firmly.
"You are my only sister, I admire and look up to you and always will but there is no chance that I can just sit back and do nothing." Astoria said, just as firmly, "I want to help, we all do."
Daphne dug her nails into her head, "I will train you, you will help but you will do it safely. Deal?"
"Deal." Astoria nodded, shaking her sister's hand.
"What did the Carrow hand you?" Daphne asked.
Astoria pulled out her detention slip, it had very few details on, only that the detention was to take place at eight o'clock that evening in the Dark Arts classroom.
"Miss Greengrass…" Daphne muttered under her breath, reading over the name on the strip of parchment, "You're not to worry about this, I'll go."
"It's not for you." Astoria pointed out, trying to take it back, but Daphne held it tightly.
"I know. But it doesn't say Miss Astoria Greengrass, just Miss Greengrass and technically, that's me, not you. Not until I marry." Daphne pointed out.
"Daph… this isn't going to be writing lines!" Astoria said, fresh tears dripping down her cheeks.
"I know. That's why I have to do this." Daphne shrugged, "But this is only going to work once so for gods' sake stay out of trouble!"