"Weasley is our King,
Weasley can save anything,
He never leaves a single ring,
That's why Gryffindor's all sing—"

"Never thought I'd hear you singing that song.." A voice taunted, and Ria shook her head with a small smile.

"I mean.. the melody was catchy already. Now the lyrics seem nice too." She answered, making him scoff. "Oh, get over it. Yeah, we lost. It's fine."

Theodore scoffed out a laugh. "Shut up! That's not coming from you. Carrow must be making you say that."

Ria rolled her eyes. To be fair, she was the one most upset after they had lost the match against Hufflepuffs. They had drowned their path to victory. And then Gryffindor had ended up winning the Cup. "Well.. we weren't prepared, were we, Nott?" She continued to sort her notes and star-charts.

"It was Maryam's first match— and she played well. It was my first time playing as a Seeker, but Smith had experience. Amelia left.. so you had to play as a Chaser instead of a Beater. And.. we only had Montague in the Beater's position. He wasn't feeling too well either." She muttered nonchalantly, trying to hide her disappointment. "So, yeah.. It couldn't have been helped."

"By the way.. Ms. Diggory wrote to me—"

"Anything else you want to talk about?"

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah. You have detention with McGonagall in five minutes."

Ria blinked, finally looking up at him. "What?"

Theodore raised an eyebrow. "I know you heard me right. Come on, now—"

She rolled her eyes. "Theo, the O.W.L.s are like— two weeks away, and I haven't even started preparing yet. A detention's the last thing I should do right now—"

"I am to bring you without any excuses, Ria, so come on—" He took her hand and began pulling her up.

"No— I'm pretty.. pretty.." Her voice disappeared in her throat, and she stared at her star-charts, dumbfounded. Something was.. something was happening.

"Ria..?"

"Shh." She snapped, focusing hard. What was it? Something felt weird.. Was it a vision?

Just when she thought she was going to see something, the feeling disappeared. She closed her eyes in frustration, cursing under her breath.

"Ria.. everything okay?" asked Theo, looking at her with slight worry.

"Hmm, yeah." She sighed. "Anyway.. I'm pretty sure you can just tell her that I don't wanna do detention, right now. It's Minnie, surely she'll understand."

Theo pursed his lips in annoyance. "Listen. I'm pretty sure she wouldn't mind coming here herself and dragging you up to her office for detention—"

"But why do I have detention?" She asked. "What did I even do?"

"Seriously?" He tilted his head in question. "Ri, you fell asleep at Transfiguration, last Friday."

Ria gave him a ridiculed look. She was growing more and more annoyed as seconds passed by. She did not want to do detention. To be fair, she had not met Minerva alone after Christmas, and she did not want to, for some reason. "I— I don't think she minds that, Theo. I've slept in her class before!"

He gave her one mighty pull and made her stumble up from the chair. She groaned. "Ugh— fine— Fine! Stop pulling me, jeez!"

She shook her head in irritation, and they both walked out of the Slytherin common room. She couldn't think of a proper reason to do this detention. No teacher gave detentions or homework when the exam week was around, she was sure. Why was she getting one, then?

Or was it that McGonagall wanted to talk to her?

She looked at her friend who was walking beside her. "Theo.. why does Minnie want to see me?"

"I told you. It's detention for falling asleep during her class. What else?" He answered, with the smallest hint of a smile on his face. She just rolled her eyes.

When they reached near her office, she had already been standing outside.. with Umbridge. Ria didn't even resist her urge to make a bitter face, now-a-days. "Ah.. Miss. Edwards. I was just waiting for you—"

"I hope you don't do anything that will classify you as a traitor, Minerva." Umbridge said with a sick smile.

McGonagall gave her a look. "Is it wrong of me to give my students detention, now?"

Umbridge shook her head. "No, I just—"

"Then pardon me, Headmistress." Her tone was a bit mocking, Ria could tell. "You're wasting time for us both by stalling the detention. O.W.L.s are two weeks away, and I'm afraid we don't have enough time."

Umbridge gave a small huff, and then turned towards the boy. "Mr. Nott—" She leaned closer to him and whispered. "Let me know if you hear something suspicious.. or if you do not hear anything at all." Theodore nodded.

The woman turned on her heel and walked away, and McGonagall just stared at her with dislike. She then looked at Ria. "Shall we, Miss. Edwards?" Ria nodded hesitantly, sparing a look at Theo before she followed her inside. Though he just winked at her, making her shake her head tiredly.

Minerva gestured her to take a seat and, like always, offered her biscuits from the jar on her office table. When Asteria declined, she asked; "are you sure?"

She nodded. "Yeah.. I've had a snack."

The Professor nodded, pushing the jar back into place. Then, she took her usual seat behind the table, with her hands intertwined and perched upon it.

"So.. What do you wanna talk about, Minnie?" asked Ria, trying not to look bothered by how her expressions seemed a bit more informal that day. A bit more soft.. a bit more.. pitiful? What was it?

At that moment, a thousand scenarios could run through her capable mind, but all that ran was only one. Something that she had seen before.. twice.. through boggarts; one a mere name on the casket and the other a lifeless body—

"Did.. Did something happen?" She asked, her voice small and shaky at the end.

The Professor shook her head. "No."

Her answer brought Ria back to her senses. She realised how badly her heartbeat had quickened for just a moment, and slowly exhaled. 

Right.. she's alright. Nothing's happened to her.

"Okay.. okay."

Minerva cleared her throat. "You see, Asteria.. The O.W.L.s are a crucial part of your life as a student." She expressed her concern. "And it is not only the matter of O.W.L.s. As your Professor, it is my duty to make sure that while you get your education, I try to make your journey as unburdened as possible.."

Ria blinked slowly. "Are you.. Are you talking about counselling?" At her question, Minerva nodded. "And why would I need that, when I'm surprisingly doing fine..?"

The Transfiguration Professor just raised an eyebrow. "Are you?"

"Of course, I am." Ria snapped. "I mean— I was, I guess. I was trying to not focus on.. on whatever that I found out about my life, and now you've brought my attention back to it, which is just great! It's just going to bug the goddamn life out of me again now, thanks to you—"

"Asteria—"

"What? What— What am I supposed to do here?" Her eyebrows knotted out of frustration. "I think about it— I'm wrong! People tell me to let it go! Then I try not to think about it— and you tell me I'm still wrong! How does this make sense, Professor?!"

"Asteria, please—"

"No, because none of you fucking understand!" She justified, her face scrunched up with rage. "I've tried, alright! I've tried making jokes— I've tried being normal, I've focused on other shit instead— I've— I've tried not thinking at all but it just doesn't— fucking— help! It doesn't help the fact that I know something is going to happen to me and I'm not going to be able to stop it!"

She took a shaky breath in to ease the pain in her chest, watching as the Professor left her seat and walked towards her.. probably to help ease her nerves.

The windows cluttered, the lights in the lamps flickered, the furniture began shaking against the ground, and her eyes began to tear up with frustration. 

She didn't like it. She hated it. She loathed it.

She feared it.

"Dear, if you could listen to what—" Minerva put an assuring hand on her shoulder which she pushed away.

"So, stop it okay? And also stop telling me other shit!" She felt as if her head would explode right there and then. "It's alright! It wasn't anyone's fault! She's your mother! She was trying to look out for you— Stop telling that to me! It's not helping—"

And just then, something snapped inside.. crawling under her skin, wanting to make her claw at herself or at the woman in front of her so badly that it hurt. She could feel it wanting to reach out.. reach out towards someone and just twist and choke the life out of them—

She feared it.

In the blink of an eye, she slammed her knuckles down hard on the table. "Fuck!"

McGonagall's hand flew up to her mouth in shock, and she only watched as Ria clutched her hand to her chest. The only sound that surrounded them now was the hiss that left the Slytherin's mouth through her teeth.

That was all she could do at that moment to stop her magic from taking control.. Focus her attention somewhere else.. somewhere else so she forgets about the mental pain momentarily.

She looked up at the Professor, her eyebrows scrunched up, her eyes still teary. Had she.. Had she just thought about hurting her? Her fingers nervously skimmed over her newly bruised knuckles. She looked down at her hands, her eyes fixating over the Azrael's mark for longer than necessary.

Minerva walked closer to her. She took her hand into hers and just held it comfortingly for a moment before healing it with an incantation. All while the girl in front refused to look up at her..

The truth was.. A hundred apologies could choke up Asteria's throat but she wouldn't be able to utter one.. that was how strong her guilt was.

That was how much Minerva McGonagall meant to her. That was how much she respected her for putting up with her and everything else.

But.. But she felt betrayed.

Ria sniffled. "I just.. I didn't expect that you'd lie to me too, you know?" She admitted, finally looking up at the woman. "I thought you'd be a bit more fair with me. Harsh.. but fair."

Minerva leaned back against the table wordlessly, looking down at her, as if willing to hear her out.

"I know." She emphasised. "I know she did what she thought was right. She was distraught at that time, I know. But it— it didn't give her the right to ruin my life." She said, her lips twisted with fury.

"And it didn't mean that you had to just.. just sit back and watch her do it. You could've done something!" Her tone was laced with desperation. "I know it, because— because you convinced her to bring me back even though she knew that this place, this time, was still dangerous. But she listened to you.. because it was you."

"It was you. If there was anyone she would've listened to, it was you. Minerva McGonagall. The person she could kill for." The way she was looking up at her made her heart ache. She looked as if she was begging for mercy and salvation. "Was she just that stubborn? Or did you just not try at all? Or was it that—"

"It was my own selfishness."

Ria stared at her, speechless. 

"I have watched her grow since the day she came to Hogwarts and got sorted into my House." She continued. "Isabella was this.. this little girl, full of life and optimism since the day I had known her."

Minerva wasn't looking at her, but far into space, as if reminiscing old days. "She always knew that she was an Azrael.. tried her best to not let it affect her. But how much could she control her unjust destiny, really?" Ria leaned back on her chair, intently listening to her.

"It separated her from her real parents, Howard Graves and Katherine Lagarde.. who worked tirelessly against Lord Voldemort when he had not risen to his public fame yet. Poor Katherine, of course, tried her best like always." She continued, and this was probably the first time Ria had heard her name leave McGonagall's mouth with such sympathy. "And like always.. her Azrael fate was not kind to her. It took away her reputation, her husband.. and her sanity."

Minerva took a shaky breath in. "On a very unusually stormy night, an orphanage lady found a ten-year-old Isabella.. who knew nothing but her own first name and age."

She saw a glint of curiosity in Ria's eyes. "The orphanage was on the same street as the Evans' house. Though after some months, a very kind couple adopted her, despite being aware of the Azrael's mark on her neck." She said with a small smile. "Isabella believes that the Diggorys were her saving grace. That she could've been worse off if they had never been in her life, shielding her from whatever harm they could while having her back."

Ria stared down at the mark on her own forearm. Saving grace..

"When she was nineteen, she spent several months in Voldemort's den, watching people suffer helplessly.. all because she was given a task and had to keep pretending that she was someone who allied with their side."

And if I could've stopped her from doing that, I would have.. but she would not have listened to me. She thought.

"When she left, they came back to take revenge.. They took a part of her, forever." Her magic.. "It all left her broken, but she got back up, because she was Isabella Diggory. And she could not let her Azrael blood and whatever curse that she had, define her life."

"She found her people, despite having many who threw curses at her bloodline." Minerva took an unsure breath. "She found someone who gave her all the love he had to give, even though she kept telling him that she did not deserve it.. because your father was too stubborn to give up on her." A small chuckle left her lips.

"She had you.. and there was another being that she adored the most in this world." Ria's thumb gently skimmed over the mark as she kept listening. "The light that had left her when her close friend Marlene McKinnon had died, returned with you."

Minerva left a breath. "And then the curse finally decided to wreck her life."

A shiver crept down Ria's spine, and she wished there was something she could dig her nails into so she could find some relief.

"She lost her fiance, her daughter.. Her sister-in-law and her two friends were murdered.. their son was taken away too." She answered. "One friend was killed and betrayed by another.. She lost her hope, sanity, powers.. everything on that one night in 1981."

"Six years.. she was missing too, like you. Now we know, of course, that she had found shelter with the Scamanders, but at that time, no one else knew where she was.." said McGonagall. "The Longbottoms were captured, then. Three years later, her own parents died due to sickness. Yet, the girl that seemed so caring, so protective about her loved ones, did not return once.. all because she thought something worse would happen to them because of her Azrael's curse."

She suffered alone.. all those years.. Ria's head was hung low in thought, eyes still fixated on the Phoenix.

"And then.. one day she returns, telling us that she saw her daughter in a dream." Minerva softly smiled. "Some hours later, we are informed of Lagarde's death. And then we find you.. alive."

"Until that moment, I had never seen Isabella cry like that.. like she would do anything to thank any and every god that looked after you, even though she wasn't a believer." Her eyes were glistening as she said this. "And that day, I realised just how much I had yearned to see that happy little girl again."

"So.. yes, I was wrong." She said, and Ria looked up at her again.

"I hid all those things from you, not only because Isabella asked me too, but because of my own selfishness." She dabbed the inner corners of her eyes lightly. "I did it, because I could not see her suffer anymore."

The story about her mother did not leave Asteria's mind for the rest of the days as she put her mind to her studies, her visions, the information written in her journal and other things. She'd sit on her desk or her bed with all those things in her mind. Once in a while, her eyes would wander and set themselves on the drawer in which she had kept her mother's unopened letter.

She'd then sigh out loud and turn back to her work, knowing her brain was already working overtime and wouldn't be able to take anymore emotional burden.

One would say she needed to calm down a bit, but she made all this to be sort of like a competition for herself. She did anything and everything, all at once, because she found some kind of thrill in it. She'd get high on it and function for hours, tiring herself out beyond words after she attained her day's goals.

It seemed like a good way to finally get a good night's sleep.

And she did, surprisingly. She slept better than she did in months.

"I don't know if that's just me.." Sophie blinked, confused. "But that doesn't really seem healthy."

"What?" asked Asteria ridiculously. "Naturally getting tired and falling asleep isn't healthy? Then what on earth is?"

Besides them, Blaise couldn't stop pacing back and forth. Asteria, Sophie and Theodore felt weird; they had never seen him so tense before.

"What.. What is the matter with you?" asked Sophie, concerned. "You told us Charms, Transfiguration, DADA and Herbology went phenomenal, theory and practical. And Potions, you're almost as good as Ria."

"Yeah! And you didn't do that bad at Astronomy either, this time.." said Theodore. "Even though.. it was a bit distracting that Hagrid got sacked and.. and McGonagall got hit by four Stunners.. and Ria almost jumped down the Astronomy Tower—"

Oh yeah.. that had happened.

"Hey, now!" She threw him a look. "They attacked Minnie!"

"Love, you were about to jump off the damn Tower!" Theo justified. "Everyone was too busy watching if you were going to jump or not! But that's beside the point— Zabini, even Astronomy went well for you, didn't it?"

"Oh, yeah, all those went great." He grinned nervously. "Then what the fuck happened with Care of Magical Creatures and Divination?" He stressed out. "And it's History of Magic tomorrow morning. I despise it with my entire life."

Theo sighed. "First.. you've never scored below an 'Exceed Expectations', no matter how bad you're at a subject, moron. Second.. Your mother's not going to disown you if you score an 'Acceptable' one time, you know that, right?'

"Shut up, Nott." Blaise groaned.

He pursed his lips. "I'm trying to help you, pal."

"Well, you're doing a shit job."

"What do you want me to do, then? Hug you or something?" He asked, his eyebrows scrunched in disbelief.

Blaise just looked at him and made a face. And Theodore was offended. "You know what? I hope your mother does disown you."

"You're missing the point here!" Blaise hissed. "If I come down from my previous grades, Mum's going to think it's because I started playing Quidditch. She already dislikes it, and if it affects my grades, she's gonna hate it."

"Then.. tell her you'll stop playing." Sophie shrugged. "It's not like she's gonna come here and check if you're playing, is it? She's too busy roaming around with her sixth husband anyway—"

"Seventh." Blaise corrected.

"Oh.. we're on the seventh one already?" Theo suppressed a snort at Ria's comment.

"Yeah." He answered sarcastically. "And Soph, it's not gonna work. She knows I like Quidditch and I wouldn't quit it. Especially not now when I have only one year left before N.E.W.T.s."

Ria looked up from her seat, her expression of accusation. "Oi! After years of bullying me for liking 'such dangerous sport', now you admit you like it too, you shithead?!" She chucked her notebook at him, and he caught it. "I should just ask a Beater to chuck a Bludger at you."

Blaise chortled. "Yeah, sure. Miss. Fair Play is going to do that." He threw the notebook back at her.

Ria rolled her eyes. Then a thought crossed her mind. "If you do get disowned, though, come to live with me. Yeah?" She said with sincerity.

Smiles dawned on all three of their faces. No matter how tough she tried to seem.. Ria was, at the end of the day, a girl who'd do anything for her best friends.

"Bet?" He raised an eyebrow. "Sure, Potter wouldn't chase me down with the Sword of Gryffindor?"

Theo and Sophie sniggered, but Ria just rolled her eyes again. "No, shithead."

She then sighed, and decided to say the thing that had been on her mind for days. "Hey.. What do you say.. after the O.W.L.s are over, we finally go beyond that dark passage and see what's on the other side?" She asked.

"What dark passage?"

She gave Theo a bored look. "You know what passage I'm talking about.."

He raised an eyebrow. "The secret passage we found last year?" She nodded. "Why so suddenly?"

"It's not sudden.." She defended herself, her hand fiddling with her pendant. The passage was more important than they had thought at that time. "We agreed to go back there, didn't we?"

Theodore looked at Sophie and Blaise, and after a moment of contemplating, they nodded. "Sure.. let's go after the exams end," said Sophie.

Ria nodded with a small smile. She needed to know why she remembered that spell out of the blue when she was in that passageway.. She needed to know what lay on the other side..

"Turn over your papers," said Professor Marchbanks from the front of the Hall, flicking over the giant hourglass. "You may begin.."

Ria's eyes skimmed over her question paper, and much to her surprise, History of Magic seemed easier than ever for her. And no, she wasn't going to ace the subject or anything, but she wasn't going to fail either. Miracles can happen, I guess..

That's what she thought until it came to remembering the damn dates. It seemed almost unfair that Asteria's exceptional memory just betrayed her when it came to studies. If her memory was a person, she'd definitely complain to it—

Goddamnit! Focus on the bloody question instead of straying away into thoughts! She mentally screamed at herself.

She looked up at the large hourglass and resumed her writing. She immersed herself into the question that she knew the perfect answer to.. she immersed herself so much that her surroundings began to turn white because of how focused she was.

She hissed silently, closing her eyes for a moment as it began to hurt her temples. The pain did not stop. And she opened her eyes in panic.

Right now? Are you kidding me?

Ria pinched at the bridge of her nose, her frame shaking slightly as she tried to not draw attention to herself. She silently breathed out, closing her eyes again and trying to focus. And her darkened vision blurred with the familiar fog again.

The fog began moving, but before it could completely part, Ria felt someone yanking her out of her vision again. She flinched, her headache ending with a snap, and she slowly opened her eyes in disbelief.

No, no, no, no fuck no! Not again! Her throat itched to scream at something. Her heartbeat picked up pace. Oh, no, what was it? What could it be..?

She stared hard at her desk, her quill pecking at the corner of her question paper. Her mind buzzed with thoughts, vision unfocusing as she tried to dive back.. as she tried to bring her vision back. Restlessness spread through her now as her mind blared warning sirens again. She clasped her hand to her mouth. I hope I don't get sick..

'I hope you do.'

Ria's eyebrows scrunched up with fury and desperation. Why don't you come up front and fight instead of hiding like a coward?

The voice laughed in amusement. 'Oh honey.. you wouldn't be able to handle that.'

Across the room, a familiar voice yelling made her turn around. Her eyes widened as Harry fell to the ground, still yelling, his hand clutched to his forehead. She stood in her place, worried, but was forced to sit down by the Professor.

Harry had left the Hall soon after, and Ria did her best to complete the rest of her exam, but she just couldn't. The sirens were going louder, the feeling of restlessness was heightening, and she could only hope that everything was okay.. even though she knew it wasn't.

Staying delusional wasn't good.. but hey, if it was going to calm her down for a while..

"Ria—" Ron and Hermione were quick to catch up as she left the Hall. "Ria, hey!"

"Hey.. what do you think happened?" She asked them.

They exchanged a look. "We have a general idea.. but nothing specific."

"But— But, are you okay?" asked Hermione. "You looked really nervous in there.."

"I— I don't know." She answered. "It happened again. Carrow.. Carrow stopped me from seeing another vision.." She clicked her tongue, looking around to see if she could spot Harry. "I don't know— I can't bring it back.. It could be anything." Her voice had an anxious edge to it, the two noticed.

On their way up the marble staircase, they saw him hurrying down towards them. "Harry!" said Hermione at once, looking very frightened.

"Are you alright? What happened in there?" asked Ria, tense.

"Where have you been?" demanded Ron.

"Come with me," Harry said quickly. "Come on, I've got to tell you something.."

He led them along the first-floor corridor, peering through doorways, and at last found an empty classroom into which he dived, closing the door behind Ria, Ron and Hermione the moment they were inside and leaning against it, facing them.

"Voldemort's got Sirius."

A shudder went through Ria's spine. "What?"

Hermione and Ron gaped at him, their mouths open. "How d'you—?"

"Saw it. Just now. When I fell asleep in the exam."

"But— but where? How?" said Hermione, whose face was white.

"I dunno how," said Harry. "But I know exactly where. There's a room in the Department of Mysteries full of shelves covered in these little glass balls, and they're at the end of row ninety-seven.. He's trying to use Sirius to get whatever it is he wants from in there.. He's torturing him.. Says he'll end by killing him.."

His voice was shaking, as were his knees. He moved over to a desk and sat down on it, trying to master himself.

Asteria's agitation was now at a point where she felt like hitting something with her hands to make her jumpiness stop. What if that was what her vision was trying to show her..

Her own voice was echoing in her ears, overlapping desperate 'no's and words that told her just how useless she was. Ron seemed to notice that, and he kept an assuring hand on her shoulder.

"Carrow.. Carrow pulled me back from another vision." She muttered, her voice shaking. And Harry looked up. "I couldn't see a thing.. and I can't bring it back now. I've tried. It didn't work."

"Okay.." He nodded in thought. "How're we going to get there?" he asked them.

There was a moment's silence. Then Ron said, "Ge— get there?"

"Get to the Department of Mysteries, so we can rescue Sirius!" Harry said loudly.

For Asteria.. it was a nightmare. That statement was nothing but a reminder of what had happened last year..

And she just wondered if that painful mistake was about to be repeated.

"But— Harry.." said Ron weakly.

"What? What?" said Harry.

He could not understand why they were him and Hermione gaping at him as though he was asking them something unreasonable.

"Harry," said Hermione in a rather frightened voice, "er.. how.. how did Voldemort get into the Ministry of Magic without anybody realising he was there?"

"How do I know?" bellowed Harry. "The question is how we're going to get in there!"

"Harry.." said Ria, her tone cautious. "I don't think we should—"

"You too?" His voice was of disbelief.

"Harry, think about this," said Hermione, taking a step toward him, "it's five o'clock in the afternoon.. The Ministry of Magic must be full of workers.. How would Voldemort and Sirius have got in without being seen? Harry.. they're probably the two most wanted wizards in the world.. You think they could get into a building full of Aurors undetected?"

"I dunno, Voldemort used an Invisibility Cloak or something!" Harry shouted. "Anyway, the Department of Mysteries has always been completely empty whenever I've been—"

"You've never been there, Harry," said Hermione quietly. "You've dreamed about the place, that's all."

"They're not normal dreams!" Harry shouted in her face, standing up and taking a step closer to her in turn. He wanted to shake her. "How d'you explain Ron's dad then, what was all that about, how come I knew what had happened to him?"

"He's got a point," said Ron quietly, looking at Hermione.

"But this is just— just so unlikely!" said Hermione desperately. "Harry, how on earth could Voldemort have got hold of Sirius when he's been in Grimmauld Place all the time? And Ms. Diggory's living there too— I don't think she'd let him wander around—"

"She can't keep a watch on him all the time. Sirius might've cracked and just wanted some fresh air," said Ron, sounding worried. "He's been desperate to get out of that house for ages—"

"But why," Hermione persisted, "why on earth would Voldemort want to use Sirius to get the weapon, or whatever the thing is?"

"I dunno, there could be loads of reasons!" Harry yelled at her. "Maybe Sirius is just someone Voldemort doesn't care about seeing hurt—"

"You know what, I've just thought of something," said Ron in a hushed voice. "Sirius's brother was a Death Eater, wasn't he? Maybe he told Sirius the secret of how to get the weapon!"

"Yeah— and that's why Dumbledore's been so keen to keep Sirius locked up all the time!" said Harry.

"Look, I'm sorry," cried Hermione, "but neither of you are making sense, and we've got no proof for any of this, no proof Voldemort and Sirius are even there—" she looked at Ria, who was staring off into space. "Ria, please don't do that! Say something.."

She opened and closed her mouth like a fish in water. "I— I don't.. I can't.." Her hands were clutching and rubbing at each other, trying to stop the trembling.

"I'm just saying— Voldemort knows you, Harry!" Hermione turned back to him. "He took Ginny down into the Chamber of Secrets to lure you there, it's the kind of thing he does, he knows you're the— the sort of person who'd go to Sirius's aid! What if he's just trying to get you into the Department of Myst—?"

"Hermione, it doesn't matter if he's done it to get me there or not— they've taken McGonagall to St. Mungo's, there isn't anyone left from the Order at Hogwarts who we can tell, and if we don't go, Sirius is dead!"

"Harry.. don't get me wrong.." Ria finally said. "What if— What if what you saw wasn't.. real?"

None of them had seen Harry look at Asteria so outrageously before.

"I thought you'd get it.." He breathed out. "Out of all people, I thought you'd know how it feels!" 

"It's real! I'm not having nightmares, I'm not just dreaming! What d'you think all the Occlumency was for, why d'you think Dumbledore wanted me prevented from seeing these things? Because they're REAL— Sirius is trapped— I've seen him— Voldemort's got him, and no one else knows, and that means we're the only ones who can save him—"

"But Harry, you've just said it," said Hermione fiercely. "Dumbledore wanted you to learn to shut these things out of your mind, if you'd done Occlumency properly you'd never have seen this —"

"IF YOU THINK I'M JUST GOING TO ACT LIKE I HAVEN'T SEEN—"

"HARRY, WE CAN'T LET IT HAPPEN AGAIN!" Ria finally broke her quiet demeanour. "I know how you feel! I know you want to help him— But what if we're not enough to get him out of there?!"

Harry looked down at her fiddling hands, and noticed her clutching the bracelet on her wrist. The bracelet Cedric gave her..

What if we get there.. get there in time.. and realise we aren't strong enough? What if we make the wrong choice? She couldn't go through that again.

"How do you know that this is what you want?" Ria sniffled. "How do you know someone isn't making you see these things.. or— or someone isn't making you so desperate that you're taking such irrational decisions. What if you act on them, just like me, and fall right into the trap—"

"We can't let him die, Ria!"

"I know we can't!" She answered. "At least— At least, let's check if what you saw is really happening!"

"Yes!" Hermione said thankfully. "Let's see if he's at Grimmauld Place or—"

The classroom door opened. Ginny walked in, looking curious, followed by Luna, who as usual looked as though she had drifted in accidentally.

"Hi," said Ginny uncertainly. "We recognised Harry and Ria's voice— is everything alright? I hope you aren't fighting.."

"Never you mind," said Harry roughly.

Ginny raised her eyebrows. "There's no need to take that tone with me," she said coolly. "I was only wondering whether I could help."

"Well, you can't," said Harry shortly.

"You're being rather rude, you know," said Luna serenely. And Harry just swore as he turned away, not wanting to talk to her in the moment.

"Wait," said Hermione suddenly. "Wait.. Harry, they can help." The three looked at her. "Listen," she said urgently, "Harry, we need to establish whether Sirius really has left headquarters—"

"I've told you, I saw—"

"Let's just check that Sirius isn't at home before we go charging off to London—" Hermione interrupted him. "If we find out he's not there then I swear I won't try and stop you, I'll come— we'll come.. we'll d— do whatever it takes to try and save him—"

"Yeah, we will—"

"Sirius is being tortured NOW!" shouted Harry. "We haven't got time to waste —"

"Harry, not everything you see is real— Please, trust me on that!" Ria pleaded. "I've seen things.. felt things that seemed like reality.. that turned out to be Carrow's illusions. You can't trust anything—"

"How, then?" Harry demanded. "How're we going to check?"

"We'll have to use Umbridge's fire and see if we can contact him," said Hermione, who looked positively terrified at the thought. "We'll draw Umbridge away again, but we'll need lookouts, and that's where we can use Ginny and Luna."

Though clearly struggling to understand what was going on, Ginny said immediately, "Yeah, we'll do it."

"Okay," Harry said aggressively to Hermione, "Okay, if you can think of a way of doing this quickly, I'm with you, otherwise I'm going to the Department of Mysteries right now—"

"The Department of Mysteries?" said Luna, looking mildly surprised. "But how are you going to get there?" Again, Harry ignored her.

"Right," said Hermione, twisting her hands together and pacing up and down between the desks. "Right.. well.. One of us has to go and find Umbridge and— and send her off in the wrong direction, keep her away from her office. They could tell her— I don't know— that Peeves is up to something awful as usual—"

"No— No, wait—" said Ria. "She can just send Filch.. or— or one of the students for that." She said in thought. "Luna.. Can you just happen to stumble into her and 'accidentally' let her know that I was in McGonagall's office, looking for something?"

Hermione stared at her, impressed. Umbridge would definitely go there running if she heard that.

"I can do that." She nodded with a small smile.

"Okay," Hermione said, her brow furrowed as she continued to pace. "Now, we need to keep students away from her office while we force entry, or some Slytherin's bound to go and tip her off.."

"Ria and I can stand at either end of the corridor," said Ginny promptly, "and warn people not to go down there because someone's let off a load of Garroting Gas." Hermione looked surprised at the readiness with which Ginny had come up with this lie. She only shrugged and said, "Fred and George were planning to do it before they left."

"Also, Ron.. I need you to go find Blaise and Theodore." said Ria. "They'll probably be in the courtyard close to the Hall. They can definitely help us. And even if Umbridge's Inquisitorial Squad tries to break in.. they're Slytherins, I can handle them." He nodded.

"Okay," said Hermione, "well then, Harry, you and I will be under the Invisibility Cloak, and we'll sneak into the office and you can talk to Sirius—"

"He's not there, Hermione!"

"I mean, you can— can check whether Sirius is at home or not while I keep watch, I don't think you should be in there alone."

Even through his anger and impatience Harry recognised their plan to as a sign of solidarity and loyalty. "I.. okay, thanks," he muttered.

"Right, well, even if we do all of that, I don't think we're going to be able to bank on more than five minutes," said Hermione, looking relieved that Harry seemed to have accepted the plan, "not with Filch and the wretched Inquisitorial Squad floating around."

"Five minutes will be enough," said Harry. "C'mon, let's go—"

"Now?" said Hermione, looking shocked.

"Of course now!" said Harry angrily. "What did you think, we're going to wait until after dinner or something? Hermione, Sirius is being tortured right now!"

"I— oh all right," she said desperately. "You go and get the Invisibility Cloak and we'll meet you at the end of Umbridge's corridor, okay?"

As soon as Harry and Ron left the classroom, Hermione left her breath. "Thank you." she said to Ria. At least he wasn't as explosive when she was around.

She nodded, her mind still hazy because of everything. "Yeah.. let's go now."

A couple of minutes later, they reunited with Harry at the end of Umbridge's corridor. "Got it," he panted. "Ready to go, then?"

"All right," whispered Hermione as a gang of loud sixth years passed them. "So Luna— you go and head Umbridge off.. Ginny, Ria, if you can start moving people out of the corridor.. Harry and I will get the cloak on and wait until the coast is clear.."

Luna skipped away, her long blonde hair bouncing as she left the corridor. Meanwhile, Ginny's vivid head bobbed between the jostling students surrounding them in the other direction, trailed by Ria's brunette one which mixed easily.

"You can't come down here!" Ginny was calling to the crowd. "No, sorry, you're going to have to go round by the swivelling staircase, someone's let off Garroting Gas just along here—"

They could hear people complaining; one surly voice said, "I can't see no gas.."

"Because it's colourless, idiot. Do you not pay attention in Potions?" said Ria in a convincingly exasperated voice, "but if you want to walk through it, carry on, then we'll have your body as proof for the next idiot who didn't believe us.."

Slowly the crowd thinned. The news about the Garroting Gas seemed to have spread— people were not coming this way anymore. When at last the surrounding area was quite clear, they heard faint footsteps of Harry and Hermione moving.

As they passed Ginny, Hermione whispered, "Good.. don't forget the signal.."

She nodded. "Weasley is our King."

"Well.. I don't think anyone is going to come here anytime soon.." Ginny sighed quietly, leaning against the wall behind her. She then looked at Ria. "Are you okay though?"

"Huh? Yeah.." Ria nodded quickly, her eyes still roaming around in caution and her hands still fiddling. She couldn't remember the last time her senses had made her feel that overwhelmed.

"Sure?" She asked. "You know how Trelawney looks when she predicts someone's death?"

Ria's worry disappeared for a moment, and she looked at the redhead. "God, don't tell me I look that awful, right now?"

Ginny chuckled silently at her expressions, shaking her head. "No, dummy. Thought I'd take some of that pressure off." She answered. "It'll be alright, yeah?"

Ria took a deep breath and nodded along, trying to calm the sirens in her head as she looked back at her front. They had been going off for quite a while now. It was almost like she was warming up to the feeling that something bad was going to happen.

Which obviously wasn't good, but she couldn't do shit about it.

"Hmm.. yeah, it'll be okay." Oh, how she wished.

Ginny was still looking at her. "If there's one thing I know about Harry.. it is that he's got a shit luck, but it also comes in clutch like no one else's luck does." She said, her tone laced with honesty.

"Yeah, I know, but—"

"I mean— look at you!"

She had to blink some times to register her words. "Er— what?"

"Yeah!" Ginny shrugged with a soft smile. "His luck took all of his family from him.. what was left of it treated him so poorly." She elaborated. "And then one day— boom! You arrive. And suddenly Harry Potter forgot about all his worries."

Asteria could feel her face heating up. "It's not that, really—"

"Oh, it is. Shut up." She shook her head, and with a sigh, her smile faltered. "I.. I used to envy you."

"Me?" She asked with disbelief.

Ginny just nodded. "Yeah.."

Ria only stared at her. Why would she envy me out of everyone else? She's popular, pretty, smart, she plays Quidditch—

Oh.. Oh.

"Gin.. just out of curiosity.. someone wrote a poem to Harry back in second year.."

The redhead chuckled, shaking her head. So, he had told her.. 

Of course, he would. They had been close since.. well, since always, somehow. 

They.. they just made sense.

"Godric, don't remind me of that." She said. And Ria stared at her incredulously. "Yes, that was me."

"I had a crush on Harry since the day I laid eyes on him.." Ginny sighed. "That day when I came to King's Cross with Mum to drop Ron off at the start of their first year.. Harry had asked Mum for help."

Ria felt horrible now. That was probably before she even came back from the future. "I didn't—"

"But it wasn't just that, obviously." Ginny cut her off. "You see.. Ron used to tease me.. that I would end up in Slytherin, because of how much I liked to annoy people. He used to tell me that everyone would end up hating me, then."

Ria frowned. "That's a horrible thing to say to someone." She remarked, and the girl sniggered, nodding.

"It is." She sighed. "But then.. I saw him and Harry making friends with you.. a Slytherin. Even Fred and George.. and Mum used to like you since the start. They believed that nothing could corrupt you.. It didn't matter that you were in Slytherin."

"And you were like that from the start, you know?" She said in a sort of admiring tone. "Head strong, witty.. you didn't let anything else shake you. You were just that girl."

"And then.." She tilted her head with a sigh. "Then I found out Harry liked you. And it was understandable why he did. You were pretty, likeable.. you were his close friend. To be honest, I genuinely couldn't even find a reason to be mad, but I chose to be—"

"And then you sort of avoided talking to me for months?" Ria asked, remembering that period of time in her third and fourth year. She had wondered what she had done wrong. She had just ended up accepting that Ginny just didn't want to be that close to her.

Ginny pursed her lips, nodding. "Yeah.." she sighed again, her expressions holding guilt. "I couldn't.. couldn't even stand hanging out around you two. Everyone just— seemed to root for you two. So I made other friends.. talked to them."

Her eyes were on the floor, but there was a small smile on her face now. "And one of them just.. just made me realise that maybe it wasn't that big of a deal." She looked up at her again. "That people who are meant to be just find a way to each other. There's nothing anyone can do about it."

Ria had a small smile on her face too. "They're right.." Maybe Ginny had found that person. 

Well.. she'll tell me whenever she feels right to. I can trust her on that.

"I'm really sorry." Ginny said with sincerity. "I shouldn't have held a grudge with you. It wasn't your fault."

"It's okay." She shrugged.

And just then, after a beat of silence.. someone spoke.

"Confundo."

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