A/N: Back from my mini break in the Forest of Dean where sadly I had no internet connection or network whatsoever. Enjoy the next part!

Also, credit to Jaye_Rose0000 for my amazing new cover! Thank you ❤️

*****

I wasn't stupid, I knew the offer was dodgy as fuck.

But then what was the alternative? Living in squalor for the rest of my life, fearful of falling asleep in case of getting mugged?

And I did - that very night, in fact. I had spent just a single Galleon, with nine left on my body. A boy, no older than myself held a knife against my neck as I handed over the bag containing eight coins, silently thanking Merlin that I had thought to stow away a Galleon in my bra.

And, of course, I still had the card containing the three symbols I could not make head nor tail of.

Finding a payphone that was amazingly still in working condition, I used my last Galleon to make the phone call.

"The password is Red Light, Green Light," the male voice on the other end spoke. "Use it when the van picks you up at midnight."

I was excited. Nervous, yes. But excited all the same.

Because finally, ever since Hogwarts, I had hope back in my life. Money would mean being able to find my sisters and parents and reunite my family. We could find somewhere safe to live, where our status' won't put us in danger. Never again would I need to spend another night in the sewers with the rats.

What I didn't expect, however, was to be gassed the second I entered the van.

Wow. Rude much.

*****

Upon waking, I discovered many unsettling things.

First up, I was no longer in the clothes I had been wearing when I had stepped into the van. No, instead of my manky ripped jeans and tired parka jacket, I was in a crisp, clean shiny new tracksuit sporting the number 199. I was strongly reminded of prison, a feeling that only strengthened when I looked around and realised I was lying on one of literally hundreds of bunks, each of which contained dazed and confused people dressed in tracksuits like mine.

Players, I could only assume. Still feeling fuzzy from the gas, I tiredly rubbed my face, trying to clear my mind.

When I lowered my hands, I nearly pissed myself.

For an old man was stood over my bed, his pale blue eyes staring down at me intently through half-moon spectacles.

"P-Professor Dumbledore?" I spluttered, my heart racing uncomfortably.

Because this man was supposed to be dead, struck down from the Astronomy Tower by Professor Snape. We all saw it - his broken body at the foot of the tower. My parents had forbidden my sisters and I from attending the funeral, but from what I'd heard, his last resting place was inside a sealed white tomb.

So how the fuck was it possible that the same old man was standing before me?

His pale eyes crinkled at the corners as he gave a soft chuckle. Oh fuck. I was dead, wasn't I?

And now I was stuck in this weird type of hell place with my crusty old headteacher for company. Damn it.

"Use your Ravenclaw mind," Dumbledore murmured quietly, his tracksuit making that crinkling sound as he lowered himself down at the foot of my bed. "If I were dead, would I be talking to you right now, Padma?"

"Uh- Padma's my sister."

Dumbledore closed his eyes and pressed a hand against his forehead, as though he were in pain. "Forgive me, Parvati. My old addled brain is no longer what it used to be."

I let out a long puff of air. Not even ten seconds in and this place was already hard work.

"It's Alia," I said in a loud and deliberate voice. "A-L-I-A- Alia Patil, younger sister of the twins."

"Ginevra?" The old man frowned.

"Sure," I shrugged, already giving up.

It was only then I noticed that the number on his tracksuit read 001. I stared at it, trying to make sense of everything.

"You're number one?" I unnecessarily pointed out. "Does this mean you know what's going on?"

His shoulders gave a little lift. "I know as much as you do, my child," he sighed tiredly. "And these days, that is not a lot."

He looked incredibly defeated, I noted. His long scraggy grey mane gave off a tramp aura as opposed to an eccentric like it used to. His face had tripled in wrinkles and his movements ever so careful and slow.

"What happened to you?" My voice was a whisper, the tremor exposing my shock. "Snape killed you. He killed you-"

"Professor Snape no more killed me than Voldemort killed Harry Potter. You forget, my child, that I am one of the most intelligent wizards out there. Faking a death is easy when you know how."

A soft, croaky chortle passed his lips as he winked at me. So the lying little sod was alive all this time? He allowed the entire wizarding community to lose hope and fight a war on our own?

"If you are so intelligent," I gritted, "then why are you here? Surely you can't be that hard up on cash?"

"The problem with faking your own death is the inability to get a job. I hadn't realised how much I had relied on that headteachers wage until I lost it. So... here I am."

Wow. I didn't want to say it out loud, but he didn't look as though he would last very long. Literally everyone around us seemed a lot younger and fitter than him.

In fact... I glanced around. Now that my head was starting to clear a lot more, I could finally focus on the other players.

"Wait-" I gasped, squinting up at the highest bunk in the row next to mine. For sitting with his legs crossed, staring morosely into space, was a boy- or man, if you will, looking utterly beaten by life. "Isn't that-?"

"-Harry Potter," Dumbledore finished for me, nodding sagely. "Yes. And I'm afraid he won't forgive me, so this is where I bow out and go and introduce myself to the others. Goodbye now, Padma."

"It's ALIA!"

"Alia?"

I froze, the voice behind me making my heart literally still. Holding my breath, I dared not turn around, too afraid I was mistaken.

"Alia? Oh god, Alia!"

And this time I did turn, elation flooding through me as I saw two people running towards me, two familiar people.

"Padma?" I whispered, my pulse quickening at the sight of my beautiful sisters racing towards my bunk. "Parvati?"

I saw nothing else as I leaped down and sprinted towards them, our bodies clumsily colliding as the three of us held onto one another tight, not quite believing we were all together again.

"Oh, Ali," Parvati choked as she fiercely buried her face into my hair. "Our dear sweet little sister. We thought- we thought you were dead."

Her voice broke as she shook against me. I let go of Padma to hug her properly. Parvati was the soft one of the twins, unlike cold, steely Padma who regarded everyone with suspicion.

"I'm alive... I'm okay," I reassured her, rubbing her back. I inhaled, wanting to cry at her beautiful, familiar scent that I hadn't smelt in nearly four years.

"Have you seen who is here?" Parvati asked.

"Dumbledore," I said at a rush. "I know, it's unbelievable-"

"Not just him, take a look around, Ali," Padma interrupted. "It's like some kind of crazy Hogwarts reunion."

I lifted my head from Parvati's shoulder and for the first time, properly looked around. The faces of the dazed and confused were glancing around, some greeting long lost friends, others frozen in disbelief. Nearly every face to me was recognisable, slightly older, a lot more strained, yet familiar.

A pregnant Cho Chang hanging off the arm of Cedric Diggory... a small laughing crowd gathered around a bed watching the Weasley twins perform some kind of trick... Neville Longbottom chatting quietly to Oliver Wood... Marcus Flint staring menacingly from his top bunk, much like Harry Potter had.

And more... many, many more - all past students of Hogwarts. Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws, Slytherins and Gryffindors. The one thing we all had in common was the desperation and hardship we'd since suffered from the war.

At this point, however, I had no idea just exactly how desperate we had all become.

******