There had been a strange tension in the house since Harry's hearing, and Harry couldn't understand why. Things proceeded as oddly as they had all summer: the restoration of Grimmauld continued room by room, Harry's lessons with Professor Lupin and Andromeda were really starting to take off, and Mrs. Weasley was thawing inch by inch towards Bronach and her companions.
After another set of discussions with Bronach, Harry had decided to drop Divination in favor of Runes, which meant she had more time with Bronach as her guardian chose to tutor her personally. Hermione sometimes joined her in the library as Harry worked through the practice sheets that Bronach set, or practiced with the flashcards her guardian had advised her to make.
"Do you think I'll be caught up to the fourth years by September?" Harry asked Hermione one afternoon as they went through another round of flashcards.
"You're getting good at memorizing the runes," Hermione bit her lip. "But that's not all that they cover in third year."
"Bronach says she'll write Professor McGonagall and Professor Babbling," Harry said, still marveling at the idea of her guardian taking an active role in her education. "About having me assessed before classes start."
"Ugh," Ron grumbled from where he was playing chess against some ancient Black portrait. "You decided you wanted to take more tests?"
"I don't fancy hearing about how I'm going to die for another year," Harry muttered, scrunching up her brow as she tried to remember what the rune on the card Hermione was holding was supposed to mean. "At least this way I'll have a chance at passing all my classes."
Sirius, she had discovered, was surprisingly good at Astronomy. He'd walked by the drawing room while she and Ron were complaining about their summer homework and ended up giving them a crash course in half the things they were supposed to know. Harry suspected that if she mentioned that to Bronach, her godfather would end up tutoring her as well, but Harry kept her mouth shut. She kind of liked working on homework with Sirius's help.
It felt a bit like what she imagined having parents would have been like.
"Professor Lupin is much better than Professor Binns," Hermione said quietly, as if she was afraid the ghost might glide out of one of the bookshelves. "There's so much we're not covering in class…and Professor Binns may set the year end exams, but he doesn't set the OWLs or NEWTS…"
"Stop fretting," Ron said, moving another piece. "It's not like we need history for anything."
Tuning out the argument that was about to erupt, Harry picked up her latest runic worksheet and started filling it out. Bronach had been setting her several a day, to be done when she felt like it, but Harry had found it easy to get two or three done, depending on the worksheet. They weren't working with active runes yet, just practicing drawing them, but her guardian had started her on drawing out basic runic sequences two days before. Sometimes the task was to draw them, but this worksheet had several questions about what the purpose of the sequence was intended to be.
"Hey guys," Ginny said, wandering in with a newspaper in her hand. "Look at this."
She spread the paper out on the table, and Harry grimaced when she saw that it was the Daily Prophet. Bronach subscribed to it, Witch Weekly, and some publication that was called The Quibbler, but most of the time it was hard to get your hands on any of them. Most of the adults kept the Prophet away from anyone they considered a child, and Bronach was possessive of her own copy.
Harry crowded round with Ron and Hermione, reading the article emblazoned on the front page.
Educational Decree Twenty-Two, the headline read in bold, black type. Ministry Standardizes Wand-Rights Educational Requirements.
"What's this supposed to mean?" Ron asked, squinting at the article. "Everyone gets their OWLs. That's how they know you're allowed to use magic once you turn seventeen."
"Not everyone Ron," Hermione sighed, pointing at a paragraph. "See, there used to be a tradition where families sent only their heir to Hogwarts, and educated the rest of their children at home. Or educated the heir at home, and sent the rest of the children to Hogwarts. It's fallen out of practice, but there's still some families that do things like that."
Harry was looking at a bit further down the article. "They're going after Bronach," she said grimly, reading the paragraph once more.
"We have serious concerns about the use of magic by unqualified wizards," Minister Fudge told reporters. "Particularly by those coming to Britain from outside the country. In the past, Britain has relied on its international counterparts to govern their own citizens' right to use magic, but no longer. Any witch or wizard under investigation for improper use of magic who cannot produce proof of their completion of an internationally certified OWL- or NEWT- equivalent educational program will face additional charges resulting in up to five years in Azkaban.
"What do you mean?" Hermione said, scanning the paragraph.
"They were talking about it at my hearing," Harry said, remembering the toad-like woman. "That she didn't have OWL or NEWT results. She wasn't charged because she was a Head of House, and they're considered legal adults."
"They've closed that loophole too," Ginny said, pointing at another paragraph. "If she does magic again and they charge her with something, she could get in trouble."
"They're going to definitely charge her with something," Ron said, and then blushed when everyone turned to look at him. "I mean, it makes sense, doesn't it? If she made them all mad, they're going to try and get her back."
"They say that people who didn't take OWLs or NEWTs can sign up at the Ministry to take them properly," Hermione pointed at the line at the bottom of the article. "But they only test in June."
"What's she going to do?" Ginny asked Harry.
"I dunno," Harry said, unease gnawing at her stomach. Bronach seemed like she wasn't going to just stay in Grimmauld Place. Harry had seen her coming and going from time to time, and they'd taken an enjoyable day trip into muggle London to do some shopping. Eowyn had come along, and Tonks, and next time Bronach had said they could try to bring Hermione and Ginny if Harry wanted.
"Reckon we're not going to Diagon," Ron said gloomily. Mrs. Weasley had only been convinced to let them all go to Diagon if Bronach, her companions, and Moody and Tonks agreed to help her chaperone. If Bronach and her companions were barred from using magic because of the Decree…
"We'll see," Hermione said, but it felt falsely cheerful. Harry stared down at the Prophet and wondered what would be next.
September first, Harry felt surprisingly put together, despite the usual chaos of the return to school. Daervunn had reminded her to pack her trunk the night before, which meant that Harry could sit in the dining room with Hermione and take her time with breakfast while the Weasleys tripped over each other in their haste to prepare.
To Harry's surprise, all of Bronach's companions were dressed in robes, not just Bronach. She had assumed that only Bronach would accompany her to the station, and it made something inside her warm at the thought that they all wanted to say goodbye. At first she'd only really been close to Halbarad and Daervunn, but they'd slowly drawn in Faramir and Eowyn, as well as Glorfindel, and now Elladan and Elrohir.
"All packed?" Eowyn asked with a smile, looking downright regal in a set of white robes with green and silver embroidery. Faramir looked no less regal than his wife, though his colors were blue with silver embroidery.
"Just barely," Harry said, thinking of the clothes that she'd accumulated over the summer, the books she'd bought or had been given, and several other things that she'd managed to pick up during the month she'd been in residence at Grimmauld. For the first time, she'd left things behind. She had enough things to leave. A room safe to leave them in.
It was mind-boggling.
Bronach looked up from her paper as someone came through the door. "You're not coming to the train station."
Sirius paused, looking mulish. "Why not?"
"Any Death Eater with school-aged children will be on the platform," Bronach said shortly. "And if that were not reason enough, I'm sure there will be plenty of Ministry personnel as well."
"I was planning to go as Padfoot," Sirius sat down, pulling the platter of eggs toward him.
"Pettigrew had an entire year to tell Riddle and others about your animagus form," Bronach fixed him with a stern stare. "Say your goodbyes here, and you'll find an apology on your bedside table."
"An apology?" Sirius cocked his head. "What kind of apology?"
"The kind that lets you spend time in non-magical spaces, so long as they're not in London," Bronach said. "My conditions are written in the accompanying note."
With a frown Sirius reached for a piece of toast. "I don't like it," he pouted, "but I accept."
"Are you both ready for school?" Professor Lupin asked a moment later as he came in, smiling at both Hermione and Harry.
"Yes Professor," Hermione said. "You'll still be tutoring us?"
"We'll exchange assignments by mail," he assured her. "And, should every post owl fail, Professor McGonagall has agreed to ferry your assignments back and forth."
"Time to go," Bronach said, checking her watch. The Weasleys were still running up and down the stairs, but Harry saw that it was almost ten. "Hermione, it is your decision whether you come with us or wait for the Weasleys."
Hermione glanced upwards as a loud thump sounded, and then shook her head. "I'd rather come with you, if you don't mind."
"The more the merrier, so long as you're not an escapee," Bronach glanced at Sirius, who put his hands up in acknowledgment, getting to his feet. Harry darted in for a hug, feeling shy.
"Do well in school," her godfather told her quietly. "Listen to Bronach, ignore everyone else. Write me whenever you can, and Bronach will make sure I get the letters."
She hugged him for a moment more, and then stepped away. Bronach was just behind her, and as Harry took a moment to settle herself, her guardian was looking at Sirius for a long moment. "Sirius," Bronach said with a short nod.
"Lady Black," he responded without the usual hint of mockery.
"If you haven't left the house before the train departs, your apology gift will appear on your bedside table," Bronach raised her eyebrow. "Use it responsibly. Remus is aware of what it is, and you should confer with him should there be any doubts about what is acceptable or not and I am not available."
"I'll consider behaving myself," Sirius said solemnly, and Harry caught Professor Lupin rolling his eyes.
"Kreacher will meet us at the station with your luggage," Bronach said as she ushered them out into the entry hall. "You've sent Hedwig on ahead?"
Harry nodded. "Are we taking the Knight Bus?"
She caught Daervunn's disgruntled wince, and suspected that Bronach did too, judging by the faint smile on her face. "We'll walk."
"What about your clothes?" Hermione asked, glancing at Bronach and her companions. Hermione had chosen denims and a jumper to wear onto the train, but Bronach and Andromeda had politely suggested that Harry wear a skirt and a jumper. Bronach was attired much as she had been for Harry's hearing, and her companions had followed suit. Harry supposed it meant something, like Harry's own outfit at her hearing had meant something, but the details escaped her.
"London is home to all manner of fashions, but we are all carrying tokens that will make our less common appearance…less noticeable. Please take one each," Bronach held out two pendants on fine chains and waited for Harry and Hermione to slip them over their heads before ushering them out the doors.
It took her a block or so to realize it, but Harry found herself in the middle of what was clearly a guard formation, even if it was subtle. Faramir and Eowyn boxed her and Hermione in the middle of the sidewalk, while Bronach led and Glorfindel followed. Elladan, Elrohir, Halbarad, and Daervunn had melted into the crowds around them, but Harry sometimes caught a glimpse of them between people. She wondered if it was the pendants, or if it was something they had practiced.
Hermione seemed to pick up on it too, but Harry could only shrug when her friend shot her a look. Where Bronach's companions had learned to do such a thing was beyond her, but she suspected it had something to do with how Bronach and the portraits called Faramir the Prince of Ithilien sometimes.
When they reached the platform, Harry looked around for Halbarad and Daervunn, who were still missing. Since the platform was only sparsely crowded, there weren't many places for them to hide. She'd already spotted Elladan and Elrohir on the far side, casually observing the Floo.
"They're keeping an eye on things," Eowyn said in a cheerful undertone. "But you'd best get settled."
To Harry's surprise, Bronach and her companions led them onto the train, finding them a compartment in the center and escorting Harry and Hermione into it. Kreacher popped in with their trunks, which Faramir dutifully loaded into the overhead racks while the house elf handed Harry a hamper and Crookshanks' carrier to Hermione.
"Young Miss be calling for Kreacher should she need anything," the house elf said, reaching out to gently pat Harry's hand.
"Thank you Kreacher," Harry said, having come to like the old house elf during the summer. He hadn't tried to save her life as Dobby had, which made it easier, but she thought she still might like Dobby the best.
"We'll send your friends to you," Bronach said after Kreacher left. "Settle in, and please don't leave the compartment until after the departure."
She and her companions left, and Harry realized that they hadn't said goodbye.
"Do you think we ought to give the pendants back?" Hermione fretted, fingering hers.
"Bronach's not really one for forgetting things," Harry said, frowning at the door. She was still getting to know Bronach, but she didn't think that her guardian wouldn't say goodbye. "Maybe she'll be back before we leave?"
To Harry's surprise, when the knock on the door came it was Neville, not Ron or Ginny.
"Uh, hi," he said as he fidgeted with the plant in his hands. "Someone outside told me that you were here?"
Harry exchanged glances with Hermione. That sounded like it might be Bronach, but how did she know Neville? And why did she send him to them? They'd never been particularly close, but he was better company than most of the Gryffindors.
"You can sit with us if you'd like," Harry said politely, remembering Andromeda's words about proper manners. Neville was just so…earnest. She didn't want to turn him away rudely, though he'd go and not bother them again if she did. A brief tug of shame in her gut made her resolve to get to know him better this year. He never seemed to hang around with Dean or Seamus, and Ron had certainly never mentioned bringing Neville along. "We should have enough room, even if Ron and Ginny show up."
Between the three of them, they got his trunk lifted into the overhead rack and Neville seated across from Crookshanks' basket, eying it warily as he cradled his plant. For a moment, there was an awkward silence, and then Hermione broke it, pointing at the plant. "What type of plant is that?"
"It's called a mimbulus mimbletonia," Neville said, brightening. "It's got this wicked defense mechanism— if it gets jostled, it shoots stinksap!"
"Uh, is it safe to carry on the train?" Harry asked, feeling her eyebrows shoot up in alarm.
"I'm sure it will be fine," Hermione said nervously as Neville shrank back in his seat. "We'll just be careful, right?"
"Actually, the lady who told me where to find you asked if she could put a ward around it," Neville said, pointing to what Harry had thought were just pretty designs on the pot's rim. "Nobody can actually touch the plant until you wash the runes off. She said she'd give me the sequence, so I could put it on myself."
"What did she look like?" Harry asked, almost certain that it was Bronach who had sent him their way.
"Dark hair?" Neville squinted, as if trying to remember. "Old fashioned robes. Even more so than Gran."
"That sounds like my guardian," Harry said quietly.
"Oh," Neville breathed. "The new Head of House Potter. Gran mentioned that she'd made quite a few waves this summer. That was her?"
"Probably," Harry bit her lip. "She…brought me to the train."
Neville stared at her. "Is she your guardian now?"
Not knowing what to say, Harry just nodded. Hermione gave her a commiserating glance and then said: "Bronach's been around a lot this summer. She's quite nice."
"Are we talking about Bronach?" Ginny asked from the corridor as she opened her door. "She's pretty cool."
Ron was right behind his sister, and they got their trunks loaded in a flurry of movement. Bronach had pointed them to the compartment as well, which necessitated an awkward set of half-sentences about how they'd all gotten to know Bronach over the summer, but Neville seemed too polite to pry further. Conversation had just started to smooth out when the door opened once more.
"Luna?" Ginny said, confusion in her voice.
"Hello Ginny," the blonde in the doorway said absently as she studied the compartment.
"Er, would you like to sit with us?" Hermione asked, gesturing towards the last empty seat in the compartment. Crookshanks had been relocated to the floor by Hermione's feet, and the hamper by Harry's, so they had one seat left. "I'm sure most compartments are full by now."
"Thank you," the girl said, and Ron and Neville got up to help lift her trunk into the rack while she settled in the last seat.
As the train whistle blew, Harry looked out the window, wondering where Bronach was. She and Hermione still had their pendants, and Harry had been certain her guardian would say goodbye before the train left. Certain that Halbarad and Daervunn would as well. But as the train lurched out of the station, she couldn't see any of them on the platform. Her heart sunk, and she tried to pretend to herself that it wasn't a big deal.
There was a rap on the compartment door, and then it slid open.
"We intend to ride the train with you," Bronach announced as Harry whipped around to stare at her guardian. "If you need anything, come to the compartment next door. But we'll stay out of your way unless there's trouble."
"Thanks," Harry said after a minute. Riding the train? No adults had ever ridden the train, except Professor Lupin. She had a moment of wondering if Bronach was going to teach Defense this year, but set the thought aside. Bronach hadn't claimed Defense as one of her Masteries— that probably meant she couldn't teach it? But maybe the school was having such a hard time finding a professor…
"It's n-nice to m-meet you, Lady Potter," Neville stammered, looking wide-eyed.
"A pleasure to meet you as well, Heir Longbottom," Bronach said, inclining her head with a brief smile that only served to make Neville more flustered. "Miss Lovegood, was it? Any relation to Xenophilus Lovegood, editor of The Quibbler?"
"He's my father," Luna blinked up at Bronach.
"His publication is a breath of fresh air compared to the Prophet," Bronach said with a wry smile. "His creative flare in the discussions of current events is quite invigorating."
"I'll tell him you said so Lady Potter."
"Please," Bronach's smile was wholly genuine. "Call me Bronach, unless we're required to be official. That goes for all of you," she added, glancing around the compartment. Poor Neville looked as if he might tip over from shock. "Don't you two have a prefect meeting to attend?"
Hermione jumped up and towed Ron out of the compartment. Bronach said farewell and closed the door behind them, and Harry thought she heard the click of a lock but wrote it off as her imagination.
"Bronach," Ginny said, eying the door. "Riding the train."
"All of them, I think," Harry said, shrugging when Ginny glanced at her. "She didn't say anything to me about it."
"I didn't know you could do that?" Neville looked completely overwhelmed.
"Safety issues maybe?" Harry felt uncomfortable with the implication. "I mean…"
"Since He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is back? And you fought him?" Luna said, tipping her head as she observed Harry from her seat by the corridor door.
"I didn't—" Harry glanced down at her feet. "Bronach did. But he is back."
Her guardian had sat her down to discuss their stance on the rubbish that had filled the papers over the summer, rubbish Daervunn and Halbarad had kept her abreast of while she was in exile in Surrey. The long and short of Bronach's advice on the matter was that people were going to believe, and say, what they were going to believe, but Harry was not required to give any of them her attention. But it would make Harry's life a lot easier if she didn't respond in ways that got her into detention. Or trouble.
"I believe you of c-course," Neville blurted out, hands tightening on the mimbletonia's pot nervously. "Gran and I both."
"My father and I as well," Luna said, as if that fact hadn't been made clear by some of the articles Bronach had shared out of The Quibbler over the summer.
Hermione, thankfully, changed the subject, and Harry was much more comfortable by the time Ron and Hermione came back and they opened up the hamper to find a lunch large enough to feed all of them to bursting.
Malfoy and his cronies looked as if they might come in at some point, but they appeared baffled by the door, wiggling its handle and looking increasingly frustrated when it wouldn't open. Hermione frowned at it as Ginny pulled down the shades. "It's not locked," she said. "Ron and I came back without trouble."
"And most of us have been to the loo," Harry said quietly.
"Well," Ron said with a shrug. "Answer's obvious, innit?"
Ginny grinned, saying what those who had spent the summer at Grimmauld were clearly thinking. "Bronach."
The woman, and her companions, had made themselves scarce as promised during the trip, but when Ron and Neville came back in after changing into their school robes, the redhead confirmed that she had in fact caught a glimpse of Elladan in the corridor.
"They're out there," he said as everyone fished about to gather the belongings they'd pulled out of their bags during the trip. "All of 'em, I suppose, though I only saw about half. But they don't usually go far from each other, right?"
Harry shrugged and picked up the mostly-empty hamper, finding Bronach in the corridor watching the darkened scenery pass by. "Thank you," she said, passing her guardian the basket. "It was very good."
"Kreacher will be happy to hear that," her guardian murmured, eyes distant.
"Do you want the pendants back?" Harry asked, holding hers and Hermione's out.
"Keep them," Bronach said, turning away from the window as the train slowed under their feet. "Wear them until you get into the castle. We'll arrive shortly, so rejoin your friends."
When she descended on the platform, Harry heard someone that was clearly not Hagrid calling for the first years. But, when she tried to crane her head and look, Halbarad and Daervunn appeared at her side, steering her towards a carriage. Ginny and Luna, who had been right behind her, got swept up with them, and to her surprise, both men joined them in the carriage.
"Better safe than sorry," Halbarad said as the thestral trundled away. Bronach had warned her that she might be able to see them this year, and Harry was glad of the warning. She thought Luna might be able to see them too, based on the way the other girl was looking at the creature, but it seemed impolite to ask.
Both men disappeared after helping them out of the carriage, and Harry was sorry that she hadn't been able to say goodbye but realized they probably weren't supposed to be on school grounds for very long. Bronach's pendant got them into Great Hall without being recognized, but as Harry sat down at the Gryffindor table, she reluctantly pulled it off. Whispers started, but Ginny planted herself on Harry's left and glared at those bold enough to stare. Ron and Hermione, arriving moments later, followed suit.
Instead of focusing on the whispers, Harry turned her head to study the staff table, wondering who was going to teach Defense. To her surprise, there were extra seats at the table, all of them empty. Unfortunately, she saw a face she recognized.
"That's the woman from my hearing," Harry murmured to her friends, tipping her head towards the smugly grinning woman looking down on the sea of black-robed students filling the table.
"That's one ugly cardigan," Ginny muttered, and Harry couldn't help but smile. "I'd rather look at Trevor thanks."
Neville choked out a laugh, and then Hermione nudged Harry hard with her elbow. When Harry turned to ask what that was about, her friend jerked her chin at the cluster of empty chairs at the end of the table furthest from Gryffindor.
Faramir was seating Eowyn in a dance Harry had seen nightly for the last month, and he took the seat next to his wife, just as he always had at the table in Grimmauld Place. Elladan and Elrohir sat to the right of them, Halbarad and Daervunn on the left, while Glorfindel took the last seat empty seat dividing them from the rest of the staff. Now there were only two seats left at the table, and McGonagall and Hagrid were the only staff members missing.
Or, Hagrid should be the only staff member missing. She remembered that he hadn't been there to guide the first years across the lake, and hoped he hadn't been sacked.
"Maybe they're staying for dinner, since they were on the train?" Hermione whispered under the cover of the rest of the school murmuring about the new faces. "And then leave?"
"She never said anything about this," Harry muttered, wishing that any of them would have given her warning. But McGonagall led the first years in and that quelled most of the discussion, though she doubted that anyone paid attention to the Sorting Hat's rather more morose song. She was certainly more focused on the familiar figure at the end of the clump of eleven year olds.
"But she has masteries," Ginny hissed during the applause for the hat's song. "What's she doing being sorted?"
"The Ministry Decree," Hermione breathed, eyes lighting up. "She needs her OWLs, at least, if she doesn't want to get charged for underage magic after the new Decree."
Harry opened her mouth to answer, but all conversation screeched to a halt as one of the first years bumped into Bronach.
In an explosion of motion, Elladan and Elrohir vaulted over the staff table in a pair of blurred figures. Halbarad and Daervunn were on their heels, boxing in Bronach as Faramir and Eowyn descended and shooed the first years towards the staff table, placing themselves between Bronach and the quartet surrounding Bronach.
Surrounding Bronach because she had knives in her hands. Harry swallowed hard as the candlelight reflected off shining silver blades that were descending towards Elladan, who caught them on a knife of his own, spinning her towards his brother who wrenched them from her hands. Before she could grab for them, Halbarad knocked her to the ground.
Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws scattered. Harry joined the rest of the students that scrambled to their feet, pressing in to watch the pair grapple even as Elladan, Elrohir, and Daervunn pressed them back, out of harm's way.
Bronach snarled something in a harsh, guttural language as she rolled Halbarad underneath her, hand snapping up, but Daervunn caught it. Caught it just in time, because she was holding a new knife, about to plunge it down into Halbarad who surged up as Daervunn pulled her back, the pair maneuvering her until she knelt between them, unable to move beyond squirming.
Then Glorfindel was there, passing ribbons to Elladan and Elrohir. The pair immediately began wrapping their ribbons around her wrists, made accessible by Halbarad and Daervunn. Glorfindel himself knelt and reached out towards Bronach's neck, rocking back slightly to avoid the snap of her teeth as she tried to bite him.
He was saying something, but Harry couldn't hear what it was over the noise of the crowd. But whatever it was made Bronach's struggles slow, so that she came to droop in Halbarad and Daervunn's grasp. They released her after a moment and she sunk further before she caught herself, one hand coming up to touch the ribbon at her throat. Glorfindel straightened to his feet, holding out a hand, and she grasped it, letting him pull her upright before dusting off her robe.
Halbarad murmured something that provoked a wry smile, as Daervunn clapped her on the shoulder as he made his way back to the staff table. The others followed, indicating to the students that they could return to their seats, but a strange coughing sound made everyone turn towards the staff table.
Gold. Glorfindel fiddled with the flatware, wondering who had chosen such an ostentatious metal for a dinner service of all things. Not even he, lord of the House of the Golden Flower, had presumed so, nor had any of the kings with whom he'd broken bread.
"Something's wrong," Eowyn murmured further down the table as the hat began to sing. "Bronach is not with us."
His eyes snapped to Bronach, and Glorfindel felt his heart sink. Eowyn was correct. Her eyes were dilated, the whites reddened, and her gaze was vacant and distant: signs he was unfortunately familiar with and which made their problem much worse than just magical overload.
"She's not wearing her dampeners," Halbarad said, just loud enough for Glorfindel to hear.
"And she is caught in a Waking Nightmare," Glorfindel agreed, hearing the others' sharp intakes of breath and wishing that he could indulge in the curses that sprang to mind. But the hat had stopped singing, and his moment was lost.
Bronach had not had an episode since they'd arrived, at least not that he was aware of. Glorfindel knew that the chances increased when she was sensitive to magic, but she had seemed to be doing fine in London and in Grimmauld Place in particular. Even he could feel the magic singing through the house, and he imagined that she felt it ten times stronger, with her connection to it. The castle shouldn't have posed a problem, particularly since this was not the first time she'd been here, but she was showing all of the signs of magical overload, on top of the Waking Nightmare.
Whether the Waking Nightmare had come first, or the overload, there was no way of telling, but he suspected that she would not be able to pull herself out of either without assistance. He felt the swoop in his stomach as if he was treading over unstable ground, but he could not think of a way to assist her without making it obvious that there was a problem in the first place.
As his mind turned over the problem, aware of the toad sitting at the far end of the table, the first few students were sorted without issue. Then, one of them tripped over an overlong robe hem, bumping into Bronach as they scrambled to right themselves.
Without hesitation, Elladan and Elrohir moved immediately, having spotted Bronach's hands plunging up her sleeves. Since the dunedain were right behind them, Glorfindel knew that he had a moment and called for Kreacher as Eowyn and Faramir saw to moving the children out of harm's way.
"Her dampeners," he told the house elf when Kreacher appeared. "The strongest set she has available, please."
With a nod, Kreacher disappeared only to reappear moments later with familiar leather strips in his hands, so soft that they could almost be mistaken for ribbons.
Glorfindel made his way around the table, watching as Daervunn caught Bronach's wrist before she could stab Halbarad, so caught by the Waking Nightmare that she could not recall where she was, could not tell friend from foe. The dunedain gained control, pinioning her between them, and Glorfindel passed a dampener each to the twins, taking the one for her neck himself.
"Come now," he murmured, falling into Sindarin as he avoided her teeth. "You are safe. The stars are far brighter than gems without measure, the moon is far whiter than silver in treasure."
He had sung the verse to her in the safety of Imladris, Bronach wrapped in blankets and reclining in his arms by the fountain where the Company of Thorin Oakenshield had once bathed. It had been a good moment, a moment of peace and healing.
Her eyes fluttered slightly as he secured the band at her neck. "The fire is more shining on hearth in the gloaming," she sang back to him a moment later, her eyes opening fully. Glorfindel sighed in relief. The red was receding, her pupils nearly back to their normal size. Halbarad and Daervunn released her at his nod, and she reached up to touch the dampener at her throat.
"You are safe here," he reminded her softly. "We are by your side."
The look he received in return was strangely guarded, but she allowed him to help her to her feet. Halbarad quipped something about being glad that she was on their side, and Daervunn clapped her on the shoulder as he passed. The others were shooing displaced students back to their places, but there was an odd hem hem from behind him that set Bronach on full alert.