Rose slept through breakfast the following morning but refused to miss her first class of the day. Scorpius had arrived to Professor Evariste's classroom early and handed her a muffin before she could greet him properly.

"Thanks," she said, biting into it at once. Albus was already sitting on his other side eating a pastry of his own.

"How's Lorcan?" asked Scorpius after giving them a moment to eat.

"Still at St. Mungo's," replied Rose quietly. "We were there late. They won't send him back 'til they figure out what's going on."

Scorpius nodded, looking grim.

"I didn't tell Lily what was going on," he said, "but James was a bit put-out that he hadn't been asked to come along."

"James actually spoke to you?" asked Rose in amazement.

"Reluctantly," said Scorpius, "but I think his curiosity and concern outweighed his feelings towards me. Not like I knew any more about what was going on than he did. I just told him that you two had been pulled out of class. Since it was Lysander, I figured it had to be something to do with his brother." After a pause, he added, "How's Lysander doing with everything?"

"Rotten," said Rose with a frown. "Doubt he slept once we got back. Dunno if he's in class."

"He's probably trying to convince Madam Chang to bring him back to St. Mungo's," said Albus thoughtfully. "That's where I'd be."

"I wouldn't put it past him," said Rose with a sigh.

Scorpius looked like he was going to say something, but instead shook his head and began to unpack his bag.

"Backtracking a bit," said Albus, leaning forward with a slight grin. "I'm imagining James actually walking across the Great Hall to the Slytherin table to talk to you. Trying to envision the look on his face."

"He caught me right after dinner," admitted Scorpius. "I think he didn't want Lily to overhear, and she had run off with some of the girls in her Transfiguration class to work on a project. She hadn't realized that you and Albus were missing for two meals, since we're across the Hall and everything."

"Still," said Albus with a wistful sigh, "he spoke to you. Of his own free will. I call that progress."

"He was rather civil," acknowledged Scorpius. "He thanked me and everything. A bit begrudgingly, but it was a thank you, and I'll happily take it."

Rose had managed to convince herself the previous night that Lorcan wouldn't be out of the castle for more than a few hours that day. Certainly they would have to meet with that specialist who was coming in, and then he could return to school. But by day's end, she had begun to realize that Lorcan might be away for longer than any of them had originally thought.

His twin's absence began taking its toll on Lysander. By day two of Lorcan's hospitalization, Lysander had begun to snap at anyone who looked at him the wrong way. He would quickly apologize, but from the dark circles beneath his eyes, Rose could tell that he was not sleeping very much, if at all. He was still attending classes, but Rose had seen him popping into the Hospital Wing a few times in between.

"Nothing new," he said sharply, sitting at lunch on the third day. "I think Madam Chang is getting tired of me coming to ask what's going on, but no one is telling me anything! This can't be normal!"

"You're right, mate," said James, who had abandoned his normal method of joking through hard times after day one, where Lysander had nearly hexed him for cracking a joke about Lorcan's absence. "Your mum will write again in the morning."

That was the only thing keeping Lysander sane. Every morning, a tiny tawny owl would swoop in with the rest of the flock and zip straight to Lysander, giving him Aunt Luna's updates from the day before. It was never enough, Lysander said, but there wasn't much she could apparently say because they weren't making much progress.

The next morning, Lysander wordlessly set the letter on fire after reading it. Squeaking, Rose grabbed the edge that had yet to be eaten up by the flames and dropped the whole thing into one of the pitchers of water. She glanced up at the Head Table, hoping that she had managed to do it before any of the professors had seen, but both Professor McGonagall and Professor Evariste were watching their table intently.

"Lysander," said Rose urgently, "please."

"Nothing!" he snapped. "They're not finding a blasted thing! And Lorcan's angry they won't let him leave, and Mum is getting tired of all these useless cursed Mediwitches, and they want to test Dad to see if he might be a Seer- like the whole bloody world wouldn't have figured that one out already- but Mum doesn't even know where he is!"

Rose took his hand and squeezed it. She had no idea how to try to reassure him about any of this. Privately, she thought that them trying to involve Rolf was foolish. As Lysander had said, someone would have figured out if he or anyone in his family had the Sight by now. They were hardly a private group of wizards. The Lovegood side seemed much more attuned to the mystic arts.

When she wasn't worrying about Lysander, Rose was trying to keep track of what was going on with Hogwarts Castle. Part of her had thought that when Lorcan went to St. Mungo's, perhaps the odd occurrences would stop. She knew in her heart that Lorcan wasn't making these things happen, but the logical side of her brain couldn't deny the correlation between the castle's magical hiccups and Lorcan's troubles this year.

But of course, she was foolish to be so optimistic. The more that she paid attention, the more that she realized that she had probably been overlooking a lot of tiny things throughout the year and focusing on the louder, more apparent issues. Unfortunately, the secondary problems were not so tiny anymore.

Professor Halberton's classes were cancelled for the entire week as the Charms professor dealt with the sudden onslaught of illness of the Hogwarts portraits. Rose had never realized that portraits could get sick, and by the frustrated look of Professor Halberton, neither had she.

"She'll be with you soon," Professor Evariste was telling the Fat Lady that Thursday when Rose returned to the common room after dinner. "Leila's still working her way up from the fifth floor. It seems that everyone has caught this... bug."

"It's not a bug," said the Fat Lady groggily, wiping her nose with a handkerchief- Rose realized a moment later that it was actually a piece of the tablecloth. "This is a cursed plague, you brute! Now get me that Healer!"

"She's not a Healer, per say-"

The Fat Lady's roar of frustration was deafening. Rose and Albus shoved their hands over their ears to block out the heinous noise. Professor Evariste appeared to be shouting back at the portrait. A moment later, he waved his wand at her, and the noise ceased.

"What did you do?" asked Rose, removing her hands from her ears tentatively.

"I, er- I might have frozen her," said Professor Evariste, regarding the Fat Lady curiously. "Huh. I wasn't actually sure if that was going to work or not. How interesting. I'll have to tell Leila. Professor Halberton. Not like that will help, but- but still."

He dabbed at his forehead with a handkerchief, this time not ripped from a tablecloth.

"We're doing the best we can," he sighed, "but this just isn't something we've dealt with before. Sorry, you'll have to wait here until Professor Halberton comes up to deal with her. I can't unfreeze her like this."

Albus groaned and leaned against the wall.

"I hope she hurries," he said. "My broom's up in my room, and I have to get down to practice."

It took Rose a moment to mentally catch up. In all of the chaos surrounding Lorcan's hospital stay, she kept forgetting that the final Quidditch match was that Saturday. It was easy to ignore when she was focused on making sure that Lysander didn't run away from the castle in the middle of the night and attempt to find his own way to St. Mungo's.

"Of course," groaned Professor Evariste. "Let me see if I can find her and speed things up a bit. I'll be right back."

Albus ended up making it to his practice, albeit a bit late. By the time Professor Halberton made her way to the seventh floor, a group of Gryffindors had congregated outside the entrance to their common room. Some of the older students had practiced their conjuring and created a handful of chairs and cushions (with varying degrees of success.) Once inside, Rose spent the marginally quieter time in the common room with Lysander, trying to make sure that he was preparing for his final exams.

"We can go through Charms," she suggested, taking his closed book from his lap and flipping to Chapter Twelve. "I know you're missing out on some review time this week, so we should make up for that."

"Lorcan's missing out on all of his review time," said Lysander, his voice hollow. "He's missing all of the final sessions, and-"

"And when he gets back, he'll be behind," snapped Rose, "I get it. So what is more helpful in this situation, Lysander? For you to be behind as well, and expect James to be the one who knows your final review material? Or for you to stop the sulking, get back to work, and be ready to catch him up when he gets back?"

Lysander glared at her for a long, silent minute. Rose simply glared back. Finally he sighed and took the book from her, flipping farther ahead.

"Here's where we are," he said, putting the book on the table between them. "We're supposed to learn one more before our exams, but I don't know if that'll happen since Professor Halberton is so busy with the portraits."

"So let's just review what you've done up until now," said Rose with a small smile. If Lysander could focus on his work, there was a chance they could all keep moving forward.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Rose got to sleep in the next morning since Charms was still "postponed" as Professor Halberton worked with the castle's portraits. She passed a snoozing Fat Lady on her way out of the common room, and a series of other sleeping portraits on her way down to the dungeons. Perhaps Professor Halberton had charmed them all to sleep to give the students a break from the incessant coughing and wheezing that had interrupted their classes throughout the week.

Professor Slughorn was having another one of his slow days and simply gestured towards the blackboard once all of the students were seated. Rose flipped to page 224 as indicated on the board and reviewed the list of ingredients. It was labeled Level Three in difficulty, which meant that they would each be working alone.

"Any updates?" asked Scorpius, who was stationed to her right.

Rose shrugged as she dumped out her bag of boomslang skin.

"Another letter at breakfast," said Albus. "We're allowed to visit tonight, since there aren't classes tomorrow. Aunt Luna got special permission to bring us back. Lorcan's going stir crazy over there."

"We have Astronomy tonight," said Rose, wincing as she accidentally nicked the tip of her finger. She looked back at her ingredient preparation, trying to force her mind to focus.

"We'll leave right after," explained Albus. "Madam Chang should be expecting us in the Hospital Wing. We'll go from there."

Rose was suddenly quite thankful that the portraits were acting up and Charms had been cancelled. It was going to be a very late night, and she probably wouldn't have managed without the extra sleep.

"Wait," she said, looking up from her work again, "you have Quidditch in the morning! You're going to be exhausted."

Albus shrugged, not looking up from his cauldron.

"Lorcan's more important," he replied. "James wasn't exactly fighting to get to go along this time, but he understands why I want to."

Just when Rose thought she understood where her cousins' priorities lay, they continued to surprise her. She was distracted for the remainder of the lesson, nearly cutting her finger again while dicing beetroot. When she finished the final step of the instructions, she frowned, peering into her cauldron. The potion was more of a goldenrod than a light yellow, and she wasn't thrilled with the strong smell coming from it.

Professor Slughorn had finally risen from his desk and was making his was around the classroom, making notes on his clipboard. When he reached Rose's, he paused and frowned, then looked up at her. She thought he was going to comment on the quality of her work, but he merely made a note and then moved on to Scorpius.

"Nice job, Mister Malfoy," he muttered, jotting something down. "Bottle this up for me."

Scorpius smiled, looking like he was fighting hard to stop the smile from turning into a full-on grin. Rose felt a stab of jealousy as she watched him siphon his potion into five small vials and stopper them up. Sighing to herself, she vanished the contents of her cauldron and began to pack up.

"Lunch?" asked Albus, tossing his bag over one shoulder.

"I'm starving," said Rose.

As she followed Albus, however, Professor Slughorn stopped her.

"Miss Weasley," he said from the side of the room, "a moment?"

Albus nodded and stepped outside. With a nervous drop of her stomach, Rose stepped back into the classroom and went to where her professor was shelving the successful potions from that day's class. He did not speak for a long moment, and Rose knew better than to rush him.

"Miss Weasley," he said at last, "I will be leaving at the end of this year. I am aware that Professor McGonagall is still seeking my replacement. And I am also aware that you have been rather distracted this year, more so than years prior. It is showing in your work."

"My cousin is- I know," said Rose, her voice suddenly dry.

"Yes, Mister Scamander," said Professor Slughorn with a nod, "I'm aware. But Miss Weasley, this is Hogwarts and you are very much your mother's daughter. I cannot imagine it will get easier for you from here."

Rose felt her stomach twist, and she opened her mouth to speak but Professor Slughorn continued.

"That, you see, is the challenge. Our students are fighting all sorts of battles while they are not in our classrooms. Your parents fought monsters, you know, and both took my N.E.W.T. level class. You cannot let this... this bigger picture distract you from your studies."

"My cousin is sick," Rose finally managed to say, ignoring the fact that he had already acknowledged it, "and- and the whole castle has been acting up all year, and-"

"And one of your friends died when you were eleven," said Professor Slughorn, his voice surprisingly gentle, "and that has colored your expectations of this school, I'm afraid. But Miss Weasley, you have to assume that things will work out for the best, or you will drive yourself mad. You have to assume that the castle will find a way to fix itself, because it always does. You have to assume that young Mister Scamander will be alright, because in the grand scheme of things, his affliction is likely quite minor. You have to stop assuming that you're going to lose."

It was perhaps the most that Professor Slughorn had spoken in months, and he looked drained from the effort it had taken. He was leaning against one of the desks, and his skin had a grey tinge that Rose had been trying to ignore for the past few weeks.

"I'll do my best, sir," said Rose quietly. "We're going to see Lorcan tonight."

"And he will be fine," said Professor Slughorn firmly. "Now I'm sure Mister Potter is waiting right outside. You wouldn't want to miss lunch."

Rose nodded and hurried out into the corridor, where Albus was indeed waiting for her.

"What did he want?" asked Albus immediately.

"Just- my potion wasn't great," said Rose, her voice small. "He wants me to work harder."

The rest of the day dragged on. Rose knew that she should be thankful that they were getting to visit Lorcan, but she hated that it was the same night as one of their Astronomy practicals. It was another one with the entire third year, since the night sky was again clear enough for them to make their star charts.

"At least it's nice out," said Scorpius as they finished climbing the steps of the Astronomy Tower. "No more layering up, eh?"

Rose had worn an extra layer anyway, not trusting the chill of the night air. She knew that she could always cast a heating charm to help keep herself cozy, but she felt somehow reassured by the weight of her robes. She chose a plush chair by the railing and examined the half-filled chart before her. At least they weren't being given anything too complex.

"Lysander will be waiting for us in the Hospital Wing as soon as we're done," said Albus, uncorking his ink and looking over his own chart.

"No pressure there," muttered Rose, getting started.

She managed to finish first, and didn't complain when Albus started glancing at her chart to fill in the last blank spaces on his own. She knew that he was more than proficient in Astronomy, and they were on a bit of a time crunch.

"Excellent job, both of you," said Professor Rinita as Rose and Albus handed in their charts. She took a moment to look them both over as Rose shifted, full of nervous energy. "Albus, you're a hair off on this corner, but you're getting the hang of it. Very well, off to bed you two."

"Thanks Professor!" said Albus and he and Rose immediately began to hurry towards the stairs. Once they were out of sight, they broke out in to a run, no longer worried what their classmates or professor might think.

It was somewhat eerie to see all of the portraits asleep during the night while all of the halls were empty. Rose tried not to pay them any attention, but once she had noticed them, it was hard to ignore. The Astronomy Tower was nearly ten minutes from the Hospital Wing even at the pace she and Albus were traveling, so she had plenty of paintings to glance at nervously as they trotted along the empty corridors.

Lysander was staring into the fire as they burst into Madam Chang's office. They had accidentally woken a sleeping first year on their way through the main section of the Hospital Wing, who had looked quite alarmed at the two of them running through, but there hadn't been time to stop and explain.

"Ready," gasped Rose, completely out of breath.

Madam Chang regarded her and Albus warily, but drew her wand. With a wave and two words, she conjured a beautiful silver swan.

"Ready to depart," she said. With another wave of her wand, the Patronus disappeared into the flames. Not thirty second later, the fireplace blazed emerald and Luna stepped out.

She looked as weary as Professor Slughorn had earlier that afternoon. Her wavy hair was tied back in a loose bun at the nape of her neck, and her normally bright eyes were heavy-lidded with sleeplessness.

"Lysander," she said, smiling warmly at her son, "Rose, Albus. Thank you, Cho."

Madam Chang nodded and stepped away from the fire. Without further conversation, Aunt Luna took the jar of Floo Powder from the mantlepiece and held it out for the children.

"St. Mungo's Mind Magic Ward," she instructed them. "We'll go from the lobby."

Rose followed Lysander through the fireplace. The hospital was unchanged from the week prior, still glowing in that unnatural way that seemed to be trying to imitate sunlight even though it was past midnight. Albus and Aunt Luna came out of the fireplace behind them. With a nod to the witch sitting behind the main desk, Aunt Luna started off down one of the spiraling corridors with the children.

They were met outside of Lorcan's room by Healer Aberdeen. The Mediwitch looked less a bit more frazzled than she had the week prior, and Rose wondered how much was due to Lorcan's case.

"Mrs. Scamander," said Healer Aberdeen with a faint smile, "excellent. We're ready to review the latest results."

Aunt Luna sighed and glanced at the children.

"We'll wait with Lorcan," said Lysander immediately, "it's fine."

"It shouldn't take long," said Healer Aberdeen. She was using the same tone that Rose hated in all adults, the one that meant the witch had absolutely no idea how long the meeting was going to take, but she would say anything to placate the children in front of her.

"I'll be back soon," said Aunt Luna, laying a hand on Lysander's shoulder. "Keep your brother company, alright?"

They didn't need more encouragement than that. Leaving Aunt Luna with Healer Aberdeen in the corridor, the three entered Lorcan's room.

The room had transformed from its previously sterile look to something that was clearly lived in. Lorcan had made himself at home with a variety of books scattered around his beside tables, which were also littered with sweets wrappers and playing cards. There was a colorful crochet throw on the foot of his bed that Rose recognized from his bedroom at home, and a similar one tossed over the edge of the second bed.

Lorcan pushed himself upright upon seeing his friends enter. His eyes were bright, and for a moment Rose thought that he was looking refreshed and rested, but then she looked closer. His eyes were practically blazing with some kind of internal fire that bordered on insanity. His hair was sticking in all odd angles, and red patches were high on his cheeks.

"You came!" he cried. "Oh, thank Merlin."

"Of course we came," said Rose, rushing to his bedside. "Lorcan, how are you?"

Lysander had frozen at the foot of his twin's bed, eyes wide as saucers. One hand was stretched out as if to rest on the foot of Lorcan's bed, but it had stopped a few inches short of landing.

"Awful," said Lorcan at once, "let's leave."

Albus chuckled awkwardly and sat in the chair he had chosen last time.

"Can't just leave, mate," he said. "Your mum's meeting with that healer now to get some test results-"

"But I need to be there for the Quidditch game!"

At that, Lysander let his hand finally fall to the bed. Rose blinked back her shock.

"That's really not the most important thing right now," she said slowly. "Albus and James agree, right?"

"Yeah," said Albus, looking confused, "the game will be fine. You really should just focus on resting and getting better."

"You don't understand," said Lorcan with a frustrated growl, "no one understands! I have to get back to Sophie!"

Rose glanced at Lysander, whose hand had fisted in the sheets at the foot of his brother's bed. He still hadn't spoken.

"Lorcan," said Rose softly, "you really need to try and get some sleep. You look exhausted."

"I can't sleep," said Lorcan, grabbing a fistful of parchment from the table by his bed. Rose hadn't noticed the stack sitting there. He fanned them out on his lap, and she saw sketches similar to the one he had done in the Great Hall. Each one showed the figure of a young girl, her hair tied in pigtails, her face hidden in a shadow. In some she was sitting, in others she was standing. In one she looked like she was dancing in a tutu, hair floating out behind her.

Lysander took some of the drawings and looked them over wordlessly. Albus peered over from his seat.

"I need to go back to school," said Lorcan more quietly, staring at the drawings in his lap. "Something's wrong, Ly."

Lysander finally looked up and made eye contact with his twin. After a long moment he nodded, setting down the drawings with a sigh.

"We need to wait for Mum," he said, rubbing his head. "Let me think about how we're going to do this."

"You- you can't be serious!" said Rose, her voice rising in a squeak. "Lysander, he needs to be getting medical help right now. We can't just take him back to school for the Quidditch game!"

Lysander glared at her, and she snapped her mouth shut.

"It's not about the game and you know it," he said.

Aunt Luna chose that moment to enter, snapping the door shut behind her. Her smile was tight, and her eyes flickered to the sketches on Lorcan's bed and in Lysander's hands before going to her sons' faces.

"Healers Aberdeen and Shmidtt are afraid that the tests are still inconclusive," said Aunt Luna, closing her eyes with a sigh. "We've made it as far as to determine that yes, Lorcan does possess the Sight-"

"Because that was apparently in question," scoffed Lorcan.

"And it has begun to react negatively to something in the Hogwarts wards," continued Aunt Luna, ignoring her son's interjection. "I suggested returning to the school so we could have some tests conducted there, but apparently that involves an abysmal amount of paperwork, which I get the privilege of beginning first thing in the morning. Once Professor McGonagall approves it-"

"There's no time," said Lysander softly, turning to his mother. "We have to go back tonight. All of us."

Aunt Luna looked at him, then back to Lorcan in concern.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"I need to go back to school," said Lorcan, "there's- there's the Quidditch game, I have to- I have to get back for Sophie."

Aunt Luna stared at him for a full minute without speaking. Then she turned and left the room, still not saying a thing. As the door shut behind her, Lorcan groaned in frustration.

"No!' he said, punching the bed. "She has to understand!"

"She's just trying to take care of you," said Rose, sinking down onto the side of the empty bed. She ran her fingers over the knotted strands of yarn and tried to remember if this was the blanket that had been draped over her at the beginning of the summer when she had fallen asleep in the Scamander library. So much had changed since then.

With a jingle of bells, a house elf appeared, wearing the same style of green robes as the previous one had. This one had long, curling hairs sticking from its ears and looked around at the filled room in confusion.

"Mister Scamander and- and guests," he said, his voice surprisingly deep for an elf. "Shall Monty bring a snack before bed?"

"No," snapped Lorcan peevishly.

"Yes, please," said Albus before the house elf could disappear. "If you have some pound cake, that would be great."

Monty looked to Rose, raising one bushy eyebrow.

"Maybe some cookies?" she said uncertainly.

She thought that the elf made a judgmental expression at their choices of snacks, but perhaps that was just how he normally looked. Still, the jangling of bells was a bit more dissonant as he disappeared.

Lysander sat next to Rose again, taking her hand and giving it a nervous squeeze.

"I'm sure your mum will come back soon," said Rose, unsure if she was trying to reassure Lorcan or Lysander with the statement.

But Monty reappeared with the food fifteen minutes later, and there was still no sign of Aunt Luna. The group ate in silence. Lorcan grudgingly accepted one of Rose's cookies after she saw how he was eyeing them. She wanted to ask if he had been eating enough but knew better than to needle him at a time like this.

She realized with a pang of annoyance that the room was missing one important detail: a clock. She didn't bother wearing a watch, as she was used to the classrooms in Hogwarts having enchanted timepieces by which to mark her hours. She had briefly considered getting her Prewett locket enchanted to work as some kind of morning alarm, but had quickly dismissed the idea as foolish. She wasn't sure what kinds of protection spells were on it and certainly did not want to risk breaking them with something as needless as an alarm clock.

Lysander had seemed to notice the same thing. By the way he had scowled after running his hands over each of his pockets, he hadn't thought to bring the pocket-watch Rose had seen him carry on special occasions. Tonight had hardly qualified as a formal event.

They finished their snacks and found there was nothing worth discussing. Aunt Luna had not returned, and Lorcan had gone from scowling at the door to laying in his bed with his eyes crammed shut. After watching him for a time, Rose observed how the tension in his brow slowly dissipated and his breathing slowed. He had fallen asleep.

After a time, Albus' head began lolling forward onto his legs, which were propped up onto the chair. Rose didn't know how the position could be comfortable, but Albus hadn't had the advantage of the extra hour of sleep she had taken that morning. Besides, he needed to be in flying condition the next morning. That morning, Rose corrected herself with a frown. It had already been in the early hours of Saturday when they had departed Hogwarts.

Even Lysander seemed to be struggling to stay awake. He had released Rose's hand (which was good because it had begun to sweat) and was holding his head up in a position similar to Albus'. Each time his head began to droop, it snapped back to attention and he blinked furiously, refusing to let himself fall into a slumber.

It didn't take long after Lysander lost his battle for Rose to begin struggling with her own. The extra sleep she had gotten that morning didn't make up for the fact that it was Merlin only knows how late, and she was in an uncomfortable hospital room instead of her dormitory bed, and she had already stayed up far too late for their Astronomy lesson, and-

All three boys woke as the door opened. Rose expected it to be Aunt Luna returning, but no one was there. Lorcan propped himself up on one arm as the door closed, peering over the foot of his bed as if expecting to seeing some sort of precariously tiny creature sneaking into his room. However, none of them expecting to see Aunt Luna materializing from the air in front of them.

"Sorry that took so long," she said, holding out- well, nothing. The air in front of her was shifting, but not in a way that Rose could see, only in a way that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. "Harry is notoriously difficult to wake. Until you get into the house, I mean."

"Our house?" asked Albus groggily. "Why didn't you use the Floo?"

Aunt Luna frowned.

"He closes it at night now," she said. "All sorts of new security measures. He said it was after that time I took you all for ice cream, but I'm not sure he's telling the truth. But that's neither here nor there, just needed to borrow this. Lorcan dear, get out of bed."

It took Lorcan another moment to process what was going on before he sprung out of bed. He tore off the hospital-issue robes and looked around for his own clothing, which Albus found and handed to him.

"Thanks," said Lorcan, pulling his shirt on over his head. "Is that really his Invisibility Cloak?"

"Indeed it is," said Aunt Luna serenely. "Do the rest of you have your things together?"

None of them had brought anything along with them, except for Rose and Albus' school bags containing their Astronomy books. Luna shrunk her and Lorcans' blankets, the drawings, and the books and stowed them in the children's' bags. Once Lorcan was fully dressed and looking marginally less ruffled, she turned to him and draped the cloak over his body. It covered him from head to toe.

"Excellent," said Aunt Luna. "We'll need to go a bit slowly- just watch your feet, dear."

Rose couldn't believe that Aunt Luna was actually going along with this- but before she knew it, they were leaving Lorcan's room and heading off down the corridor. Aunt Luna set the pace, and Rose ignored the thudding in her chest as they approached the front desk.

"I'll be back in a few hours," Aunt Luna told the witch behind the desk, who looked irritated to be disturbed from her magazine. "I need to run a few errands after dropping the children off. Tell Healer Aberdeen I'll be back to start on the paperwork after contacting my errant genetics donor."

"Alright," said the witch, returning to her magazine with a shrug.

Again, Rose went through the fire first. She waited nervously on the other side as Lysander emerged, followed by Albus. Aunt Luna popped out next and stepped out of the way for Lorcan, who was still nearly invisible, except for a small spot of soot that seemed to be floating mid-air.

"Cho is in the main room preparing beds for all of you," said Aunt Luna. "You are all to remain here for the rest of the night. I can't risk you running throughout the castle and causing some sort of a panic in the middle of the night. Whatever you need to look into, Lorcan, it will have to wait until morning. Understood?"

Lorcan removed the Invisibility Cloak and handed it back to his mother, nodding.

"I'll wake you in time for breakfast," continued Aunt Luna. "Until then, try to get some rest, all of you."

Rose wasn't sure if she was going to be able to. She was nervous for whatever the next day had in store. But nearly as soon as she covered herself with the blankets provided by Madam Chang and lay her head on the pillow, she fell asleep.