May/June 1996
It was strange. Feeling her runes heat up for the first time was strange. Daphne knew it linked her to Lilith, well, Lady Farrow. She watched in wonder as the runes heated up, their normally pale white colour changing into glowing orange that reminded her of flames. It didn't hurt, it it felt warm and tingles ran down her arm. But as she carefully touched it, she almost gasped in surprise as images flew into her head. She recognized the Astronomy Tower. A body on the top floor of the Tower. Lilith lying on the ground with blood all over her face.
The images disappeared as quickly as they first appeared and Daphne was left gaping at the wall. Without a second thought, she ran out of the girl's bathroom, making her way up to Astronomy Tower in record time. She cursed herself as she felt her left side hurting and she struggled to catch her breath. But eventually, she made it. She pushed the wooden door open only to see the exact image she had seen before.
Lilith laid on the ground, her face was covered in blood as well as the collar of her shirt, her chest was rising weakly and Daphne could hear only quiet groans and wheezing.
"Lilith!" she gasped, momentarily forgetting who Lilith was to her in panic, and rushed to her side. At the sound of her voice, she could see Lilith's bruised, swollen eye open slightly, watching her through the small crack between her eyelids.
"Daphne," she breathed out quietly. Daphne could feel her eyes water at the sight. Lilith symbolized someone untouchable, unbreakable to her. She started to panic inwardly. What was she supposed to do?
"Daphne, do not move me until I tell you." Lilith wheezed out, her voice quiet, hoarse, weak. "Do you know the healing charm? Episkey?" Daphne nodded frantically.
"I do."
"Good. Now listen to me," she coughed, her face scrunching up in pain. "My skull is cracked in the back. Don't panic, it will be alright. Just listen to me, okay?" Daphne was panicking but the calmness in Lilith's voice helped her.
"I'm listening." she managed to get out, barely able to look at Lilith's swollen, bloody face.
"Everything will be alright. What I need you to do is sit me up, prop me against you and use the charm on my skull. You need to do it quickly but be careful about it." Daphne started to hyperventilate at the instructions, her vision blurred by tears. She could feel something on her left hand and when she looked down, she saw Lilith's hand touching hers, giving it a gentle squeeze. "Don't panic. You can do it. I trust you, alright?" Daphne breathed in and out, calming herself down a little bit. Lilith trusted her. She needed her. She relied on her to do this.
"I can do it."
"Yes, you can. Now repeat what you will do."
"Sit you up, prop you against me, use Episkey. Quickly but carefully." Lilith gave her hand another small squeeze.
"Good. Are you ready?" Daphne took a deep breath, mentally preparing herself.
"Yes."
"On three." Daphne prepared her wand in her right hand, searching with her eyes for the right part of Lilith's body she could grab her by. She didn't want to cause her any more pain than she was already in.
"One, two, three." Daphne's hand slid under Lilith's shoulders, gently lifting her upper body, grimacing as she heard Lilith's quiet groans.
"Sorry."
"Don't apologize." Lilith wheezed out, and Daphne carefully positioned her against herself, leaning her head against her shoulder, finally seeing what Lilith was talking about. The hair on the back of her head was almost glued together with blood, darkening it into a horrible shade of reddish black.
With her shaking hand, she lifted her wand, pointing at the spot.
"Episkey." she whispered and knew it worked by Lilith's quiet groan and almost unnoticeable flinch of her head. Daphne let out a breath of relief when she felt Lilith pat her on her arm and remove herself from her, crawling towards the wall and leaning against it. Daphne watched her worriedly as she cradled her hand to her torso, hovering just a few inches from it as if she was afraid to touch it.
"Thank you. You did very well." she breathed out.
"What happened?" Lilith sighed.
"Do you have a handkerchief or something?" Daphne knew she was deflecting but did bring it up as she searched her pockets and found one, passing it to Lilith. Lilith pulled out her wand, pointing it at the fabric.
"Aquamenti." Daphne inwardly winced as Lilith brought the handkerchief to her face trying to wipe out the blood that covered it but failed.
"Give it to me." she outstretched her hand.
"I can do it." Daphne shook her head.
"No you can't. Not properly anyway." it took Lilith a few moments before she passed the fabric to Daphne who took it and moved closer. She took hold of Lilith's chin to hold her still and started wiping the blood away, as gently as she could, mindful of her injuries. As she wiped more blood away she saw Lilith's nose was slightly crooked, probably broken, and her lip and eyebrow were cut in a few places. She frowned.
"What happened?" Lilith sighed.
"Aveline." Daphne's eyebrows nearly reached her hairline. Aveline? It was well-known around Hogwarts that had a bit of a complicated relationship because Avelne was a wild card capable of anything but it was also known that they loved each other, and Lilith protected her fiercely. Andrew Armstrong's broken hand was a shining example. Daphne didn't know the whole story but she heard the rumours.
"She did this?" she wiped more blood, revealing more fresh bruises.
"Yes."
"Why?" Lilith closed her eyes.
"Because sometimes the truth is too heavy to handle."
"What truth?" Lilith shook her head slightly.
"I will tell you but not right now." Daphne took it. If the thing she was telling her about was so important that it made Aveline react like that, she understood why Lilith didn't want to talk about it right away. She wiped the last spots of blood from Lilith's face. It still wasn't a pretty sight but slightly less terrifying.
"All done."
"Thank you." Lilith managed to give her a small smile. "Would you mind fixing my nose? It bothers me quite a bit." Daphne blinked a few times. Bothers her quite a bit? Her and Lilith definitively had different views on some matters. She quickly collected herself and pointed her wand at Lilith's nose.
"Episkey" Lilith didn't let out a single sound as her nose snapped into place, accompanied by awfully sounding crack. But Daphne didn't put her wand down.
"What?" she rolled her eyes.
"While I'm at it, I'll just fix the rest as well. Episkey." the lower lip mended together. "Episkey" the eyebrow stitched itself back together. "Episkey" the cut on her cheek disappeared. She finally put the wand down. Lilith still had the bruises but her face looked substantially better than it looked before.
"Thank you." she paused. "Have I thanked you yet for tipping me off about Umbridge's raid? I don't think I did." Daphne blushed.
"Just doing my job. You told me to get into Umbridge's good graces." Umbridge was awful but Daphne had her orders so she continuously put on her best bright smiles and laughs even when she just wanted to kick the pink toad.
"Nevertheless, thank you, Daphne." Lilith gave her a small smile. "Could you accompany me to the Hospital Wing? Not that I don't trust you but Madam Pomfrey is more qualified to deal with broken ribs." Daphne stared at her.
"Your ribs are broken?"
"From what I can gather, at least three of them are."
"And Aveline did all of that?"
"She plays Quidditch all her life, Daphne. She doesn't look like it but she's very strong." Daphne shook her head and carefully helped Lilith get up, dropping her right arm over her shoulder to support her.
"What did you do to piss her off like that? Did you kill someone?" Daphne meant it as a joke but the silence from Lilith was loud. Her head whipped to the left, catching the look on Lilith's face. "You killed someone?" she whispered.
"I told you, Daphne. I will tell you later." Daphne had an uneasy feeling in her stomach as she carefully helped Lilith down from the Astronomy Tower and slowly managed to get both of them to the Hospital Wing.
When Madam Pomfrey spotted them, she immediately rushed to Lilith's side, easing the burden off Daphne's shoulders.
"Dear Merlin, what has happened?" she asked, shaking her head as she helped Lilith onto a hospital bed.
"Just an accident." Madam Pomfrey pursed her lips and pulled out her wand.
"With a hypogriff?" she shook her head again and waved her wand over Lilith's body. "Four broken ribs and a bruised liver." she shot a look at Daphne who immediately put her arms up in defence.
"I just found her." she said quickly but the matron continued glaring at her.
"She's telling the truth, Madam Pomfrey." Lilith sighed. "I fell down the stairs and flew right into a statue." Madam Pomfrey eyed Lilith suspiciously, clearly not believing her words but chose not to say anything else. She simply motioned for Lilith to lie down.
"You can go, Miss Greengrass." Daphne caught a small nod from Lilith, allowing her to leave, before turning on her heel and exiting the Hospital Wing, wondering about the story Lilith promised to tell her.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Hermione didn't ask questions when Aveline showed up at Gryffindor Tower, quietly asking if she could stay on the spare bed for some time. She didn't ask questions when she helped her clean her bruised knuckles and heal them. Aveline stayed there multiple times already, and she was known to have a quick temper so Hermione didn't think she should question it.
But once she saw a glimpse of Lilith in the corridor three days after Aveline showed up, she froze in her tracks and all the questions that she should've had suddenly came in like a tidal wave.
Lilith's face was covered in blue and purple bruises, her usually confident walk was off, favouring her right leg over her left, and her posture was hunched over. And Aveline came back with bruised knuckles.
She didn't approach Lilith, even if she wanted to, even if her heart hurt just because watching Lilith hurt and in pain, unable to help her tore her apart. She would but Lilith made it clear multiple times that she didn't want to speak to her even when she wrote paragraph after paragraph full of apologies into the two-way notebook. The only response to all of it was Stop. That was it.
So Hermione did the next best thing she could. She waited until Aveline got back to the Gryffindor Tower that day and cornered her.
"Care to tell me why you beat your sister into a bloody pulp?!" Aveline rolled her eyes.
"She's not my sister, and she deserved it." Hermione was taken aback by the venom in Aveline's words.
"Not your sister? What are you talking about? Of course, she's your sister." Aveline glared at her.
"That monster IS NOT my sister!" she gritted through clenched teeth.
"What are on about?" Aveline let out a dark chuckle and shook her head.
"You should open your eyes, Granger. She's not what she's pretending to be. She lies all the time. We are stupid for ever believing her. She played us all like a fucking fiddle, and the sooner you realise it, the better." she pushed Hermione aside and stormed out of the dormitory, leaving Hermione gaping at the empty spot left after her.
What could possibly happen that it made Aveline completely turn on Lilith? Sure, they had their petty fights and misunderstandings but Hermione knew Aveline loved Lilith. She looked up to her and always counted on the fact that she had her back. Even when she was angry with her during the summer, she never acted like that. So what made her snap? The only other person that possibly could've answers was Sebastian.
So of course the next thing she did was beg Harry to lend her Marauders Map and stalked Sebastian into the library. When she found him hunched over one of the tables, blankly staring at a parchment, he looked worse for wear. He looked almost absent from the present, had purple bags under his eyes and didn't notice when Hermione pulled up a chair and sat next to him.
"Sebastian?" she gently shook his shoulder which seemed to wake him up from whatever trance he was in.
"Hermione, hey, how are you?" Hermione frowned.
"Me? How are you? You look terrible." he gave her a small, almost sad smile.
"Well, you know. Lots of homework, that's all."
"Are you sure?" Hermione's eyes fell on the parchment. It was blank. "Because I've just had the most confusing talk with Avy, and I saw Lilith in the corridor today. Seb, what is going on?" even the tiny smile he had fell from Sebastian's face as he closed his eyes.
"It's complicated."
"And when it's not complicated with those too?" Sebastian shook his head.
"This is different." he sighed. "What Lilith has done... you should give Avy the space she needs right now. And it pains me to say this, but maybe stay away from Lilith too." Hermione blinked in surprise.
"What? Why? What did she do?" Hermione watched as Sebastian nervously bit his lip and played with his fingers.
"Look, I don't want to talk about it. But let's just say it made me, well us, question everything she's ever told us. And we did find some inconsistencies so, the chances that she lied to you too about something, or everything, is highly probable." he sighed and ran his fingers through his hair ruffling them even more than they were before. "I love her, she practically raised us, and I know you love her too. But right now, it feels like I don't even know her. And Avy... you know how she is. She's expressive and lets her emotions take over her before she has time to properly adjust to them. So that's why what happened, happened. But she feels the same things as I do." his eyes locked with Hermione's. She never noticed it, maybe because she was never really close with Sebastian but up close, she realised he had the same eyes as Lilith had. The warm, pools of brown she missed so much. "The hurt, the betrayal," he paused. "The fear."
"Fear?" Sebastian nodded.
"What we found out scared the hell out of us. And we are her siblings. That's why I advise you to stay away from her. And please, don't bring it up again with Avy. Or me for that matter." Sebastian turned away from her, his attention back on the parchment as he picked up a quill and dipped it in ink, signalling to Hermione that he was done talking. So Hermione left the library with more questions than she had before.
Aveline didn't bring it up either but seemed to channel her rage and frustration into Quidditch. Neither she nor Harry had seen the final match between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw thanks to Hagrid but from what she'd heard, Aveline was especially ruthless. Ron had some bruises on his face from where she hit him with a quaffle and Angelina ranted on about how Aveline nearly ran her into the stands or the ground multiple times. Later she vaguely apologized to both of them in the Gryffindor common room during the celebration, congratulation them on the win but Hermione was more concerned when she made a beeline to the Firewhiskey on the table. It must've been her first time drinking the liquor because she took a massive swing from the bottle and immediately started coughing. So Hermione made it her mission to keep her away from it for the rest of the night, supplying her with Pumpkin juice and Ginny soon joined them, occupying Aveline with quidditch talk that got them into a deep analysis of the match. If anyone had anything against a Ravenclaw being in Gryffindor Tower right after a particularly nasty match, they didn't utter a word. Aveline was an honorary Gryffindor for years at that point so nobody batted an eye.
Hermione just prayed that things would soon clear up.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Things didn't clear up.
Aveline continued squatting in Hermione's dormitory but to Hermione's surprise, none of the other girls minded. Aveline was a very likeable person and somehow managed to get into each girl's good graces. Hermione didn't mind it either. She used Aveline as a study buddy for O.W.L.s. Well, more like coerced her into it as payback for letting her sleep in her dorm. Aveline made a fuss about it at first but after some time she gave in. The only thing that irritated her was Aveline's need to constantly play with something in her hand. She either had a ball, a quill or literally anything she could find lying around and continued playing with it the whole time they asked each other mock questions.
What probably surprised her the most was Aveline's deep knowledge of the subjects. She knew Aveline for some time at that point and was aware of her intelligence, otherwise she wouldn't be sorted into Ravenclaw. But Aveline's troublemaker nature and constant joking about failing the exams pushed that fact aside. When she brought out her study cards for the first time to test Aveline, she was genuinely taken aback when Avy answered most of the questions correctly, even adding bits and pieces of new information Hermione didn't have written down, all while laying upside down on the sofa in the common room and tossing the ball up and down. She felt a pang in her chest at that moment because Aveline's casual delivery of her answers reminded her of Lilith so much that it physically hurt. Lilith who had been on radio silence for a month and whom she almost hadn't seen at all since the last DA meeting. But Lilith's name was a taboo in Aveline's presence so she had to bite her tongue and nurse her heart by busying herself with her studies.
Even Harry and Ron started to panic, joining them during the study sessions, which also annoyed Hermione a little bit because both of them joined in on Aveline's habit and the three of them just tossed the ball around. But she had to give it to Avy. She came up with the idea to make it a game, in which the one who throws the ball asks the question and the one catching it has to answer in under five seconds or loses. And surprisingly, it worked because both her friends got remarkably better with each session. So Hermione stopped being annoyed around the 20th round of the game and joined in.
Unfortunately, the exams came quicker than they expected. The whole evening before the first exam was tense, and the morning of it was unusually quiet. Hermione was a ball of nerves and panic ever since she saw the examiners the night before, trying to read every last piece of information she could get her hands on. Harry, Ron and Aveline were quiet but at least they ate breakfast, Hermione couldn't. Her heart was beating fast when the breakfast ended and they left the Great Hall. The fifth-year students gathered in the entrance hall, and Hermione's heart sank when she spotted Lilith there. She stood in the corner, leaning against the wall with an opened book in her hands and opposite to most of the students in the hall, she didn't look worried at all. That's when it finally hit Hermione. The seventh years were taking N.E.W.T.s. Lilith was taking her N.E.W.T.s while Hermione was taking her O.W.L.s, and Hermione completely forgot about it. Fortunately, Aveline didn't seem to spot her and if she did, she didn't care. Lilith must've felt eyes on her because her attention shifted from her book and suddenly, their eyes finally met after a month. And finally, Hermione's heart calmed down a little because Lilith gave her an almost unnoticeable reassuring smile and a slight nod but that was all. Their class was called in and with one last look at Lilith, Hermione walked in.
But when she opened the two-way notebook that she religiously checked every evening, she found five words that warmed her heart.
Don't overthink it. Good luck.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Days of exams left Hermione completely exhausted but she felt a slight glimmer of hope when the end of them approached. The only thing that was left was the History of Magic, and Hermione finally felt like she could breathe. What also helped was the fact that every night, the same note appeared in the notebook. Don't overthink it. Good luck. It was a sign that maybe, maybe Lilith was starting to get into the mood to finally talk.
What dampened her mood, and every Gryffindor's mood significantly was Umbridge's attack on Hagrid and Professor McGonagall. Four against one, it was pure cowardice, and if their anger and hate against Umbridge weren't at its highest until then, it went there the moment they watched Professor McGonagall take four Stunners into her chest.
On the day of the last exam, Hermione sat in the quiet Great Hall, scribbling down her answers on the parchment in lightning speed but her quill almost snapped in half when she heard a blood-curling scream and swiftly turned around, watching with her best friend fall down from his chair, clutching his scar and yell. Hermione's heart dropped. Harry's scar hurting was never a good sign. She watched Professor Tofty rushing to Harry who managed to wake up from his daze, and after a brief exchange, exited the Great Hall. Her eyes shot to Ron who was just as surprised and confused as her. She quickly completed her exam and along with Ron and Aveline went on a mission to find Harry.
Harry was frantic, almost in a daze as he explained to them what he saw. His loud outburst and yells that made their way out of the empty classroom they hid in managed to catch the attention of Ginny, Luna and surprisingly, Sebastian who wandered in just after Harry stopped yelling at Hermione. She had to think quickly on her feet as she tried to come up with a plan that could work.
In the end, Harry let her talk him into checking in with Sirius before rushing to the Ministry. They agreed on Ron and Sebastian distracting Umbridge, both of them were prefects so their explanation should hold some weight, and Ginny, Luna and Aveline keeping the students away from her cabinet during Harry and Hermione's break-in.
Hermione had a bad feeling about this, even when it was her plan. So as she sent Harry off for his cloak, she quickly pulled out her notebook. She needed to give a message to Lilith. Sirius was her uncle after all.
Harry had a vision. He thinks You-Know-Who holds Sirius in the Department of Mysteries. Breaking into Umbridge's cabinet now to check via Floo, Seb and Avy are on the watch. She hoped that Lilith would read it.
She had to give it to Ginny and Aveline, they were very convincing when they ordered people to take different routes while she and Harry sneaked into the cabinet. Hermione was sure that the overflow of kittens on the walls would live in her head rent-free for a very long time as she slipped from under the cloak and took her position by the window, while Harry crouched down in front of the fireplace and threw Floo powder in, calling out Grimmauldi Place address before putting his head in.
Hermione nervously bit her lip as she stood her guard but she heard no chorus of 'Weasley Is Our King' so it calmed her nerves a little bit. But only just for a moment because the next thing she knew, the door flew open, making her nearly jump up in surprise. As she turned around, her mouth fell open as she saw Lilith in the doorway, breathing heavily as her eyes went from Hermione to Harry's crouching form.
"What in Rowena's name do you think you're doing?!" she yelled out. "Are you stupid?!" Hermione panicked, quickly walking towards her, trying to shush her.
"Be quiet! Someone's gonna hear you!"
"She knew you were in the second you stepped in!" Hermione's heart sank. She stared at Lilith, eyes widened, mouth half opened. But before she could respond, Lilith fell to the ground and several sets of footsteps rushed in. Before Hermione could even lift her wand, she was apprehended by two arms holding her back and watched as Lilith was grabbed by two Slytherin boys. She was not unconscious and tried to fight them but they were stronger and held her back.
"Granger, please, don't do anything stupid." the person behind her whispered in her ear. She turned her head slightly to see who was the one holding her. It was her luck. Her freaking luck. Of course, it would be Daphne Greengrass. She tried to wiggle out but Daphne tightened her grip. It was tight but it didn't hurt.
"Hermione please, I won't harm you, you have to trust me. I'm begging you." Daphne pleaded with her. "Just calm down, please." Hermione turned her head once more and her eyes met Daphne's. She couldn't tell if Daphne was pretending but the pleading looking in her eyes looked real enough to give up. She knew there was no point because Umbridge already had a grip on Harry, and ordered their wands to be taken away. Hermione's wand was taken by Daphne, Lilith's was wrestled out of her hand by one of the Slytherin boys and Harry's was in the hands of smirking Draco Malfoy.
The commotion outside caught her attention, and soon, all of their accomplices, along with Neville, were dragged in by other members of the Inquisitorial Squad. Sebastian and Aveline's eyes widened in shock as they spotted Lilith in the room but they were unable to speak due to gags in their mouths.
"So, Potter," Umbridge began as she settled herself in her armchair. "You stationed lookouts around my office and you sent these buffoons," she nodded at Ron and Sebastian, and Malfoy let out a loud laugh, "to tell me the poltergeist was wreaking havoc in the Transfiguration department when I knew perfectly well that he was busy smearing ink on the eyepieces of all the school telescopes, Mr. Filch having just informed me so. "Clearly, it was very important for you to talk to somebody. Was it Albus Dumbledore? Or the half-breed, Hagrid? I doubt it was Minerva McGonagall, I hear she is still too ill to talk to anyone..." she was interrupted by a chuckle. Hermione's head whipped around as she watched Lilith shaking her head.
"Please, Dolores, if you want answers you should talk to the person behind the plan. Potter's just a pawn, he's always a pawn." Hermione's eyes widened at the words that just left Lilith's mouth. She was about to speak up but Daphne covered her mouth with her hand.
"Hermione, please, don't do anything stupid. Lilith's trying to save your friend." she heard a quiet whisper next to her ear. How could Daphne know something like that?
Umbridge's attention turned from Harry to Lilith, her eyes narrowing. Just like Hermione, the others in the room stared at Lilith.
"Miss Farrow, of course. The only person besides Potter to be arrogant enough to try this." she turned towards one of the students holding Lilith and motioned her head towards Harry. "Apprehend him." the student quickly grabbed Harry and roughly pulled him aside, locking him in.
"Your name won't save you this time, Miss Farrow. Or is it Lady Farrow" she asked in a mocking tone and Hermione could feel anger bubble inside of her. "Now, who of those named were you trying to reach?" Lilith smirked.
"Did you really think I'd give you the answers, Dolores?" Umbridge's face tightened.
"Very well," she said and rose up from her chair. She walked towards Lilith, roughly grabbing her by her shoulder and pushing her onto the chair in front of her desk. With a wave of her wand, ropes appeared out of nowhere, tying Lilith's hands to the armrests.
"I offered you the chance to tell me freely. You refused. I have no alternative but to force you. Draco — fetch Professor Snape." The whole time Draco was out of the office, it was quiet. Hermione watched the silent battle between Umbridge, who was glaring, and Lilith, who was smirking back at her. Her eyes travelled to Harry who was watching the exchange with a similar expression as her. He didn't know what was happening.
"You wanted to see me, Headmistress?" Snape asked as he entered the room, indifference written on his face as his eyes scanned the students gathered there.
"Ah, Professor Snape," said Umbridge, smiling widely. "Yes, I would like another bottle of Veritaserum, as quick as you can, please."
"You took my last bottle to interrogate Potter," he said, observing her coolly through his greasy curtains of black hair. "Surely you did not use it all? I told you that three drops would be sufficient."
"You can make some more, can't you?" she said, her voice becoming more sweetly girlish as it always did when she was furious.
"Certainly," said Snape, his lip curling. "It takes a full moon cycle to mature, so I should have it ready for you in around a month."
"A month?" squawked Umbridge, swelling toadishly. "A month? But I need it this evening, Snape! I have just found Farrow and Potter using my fire to communicate with a person or persons unknown!"
"Really?" said Snape, showing his first, faint sign of interest as he looked around at Lilith and Harry. "Well, it doesn't surprise me. Potter has never shown much inclination to follow school rules. And Farrows believe they cannot do no wrong." his eyes travelled from Harry, who was intensely staring at him to Lilith, who held his gaze for longer. Snape blinked a couple of times and frowned, his eyebrow rising up. Hermione caught Lilith nod slightly at him, and Snape gave an almost unnoticeable nod back. Hermione studied enough about Occlumency in her research for Harry to recognize it. Lilith just sent a message to Snape, the only Order member left in the school, and Snape got it. If Hermione thought she couldn't love Lilith more, she was wrong. The exchange seemed to go unnoticed by Umbridge but Hermione knew that Harry got the general idea of what was going on by a small tug on the corner of his mouth.
"I wish to interrogate her!" shouted Umbridge angrily, and Snape looked away from Lilith back into her furiously quivering face. "I wish you to provide me with a potion that will force her to tell me the truth!"
"I have already told you," said Snape smoothly, "that I have no further stocks of Veritaserum. Unless you wish to poison Miss Farrow I cannot help you. The only trouble is that most venoms act too fast to give the victim much time for truth-telling..." Hermione rolled her eyes when she heard Lilith chuckle quietly which only made Umbridge angrier.
"You are on probation!" shrieked Professor Umbridge, and Snape looked back at her, his eyebrows slightly raised. "You are being deliberately unhelpful! I expected better, Lucius Malfoy always speaks most highly of you! Now get out of my office!" Snape gave her an ironic bow and left.
"So, no poisoning tonight? That's a shame." Hermione could hear a quiet sigh from Daphne at Lilith's mockery of Umbridge. For once she could say that she and Daphne shared the sentiment because Umbridge looked almost crazy with anger. Contrary to her, Harry let out a loud laugh.
"Shut him up!" she yelled at the student who held Harry and he immediately gagged Harry's mouth with the same things others were gagged with.
"Very well," she said. "Very well...I am left with no alternative... This is more than a matter of school discipline... This is an issue of Ministry security... Yes... yes..." Umbridge looked like a mad woman as she started talking to herself. "You are forcing me, Miss Farrow... I do not want to," said Umbridge, still moving restlessly on the spot, "but sometimes circumstances justify the use... I am sure the Minister will understand that I had no choice..."
"The Cruciatus Curse ought to loosen your tongue," said Umbridge quietly.
"No!" Hermione shrieked, trashing in Daphne's arms who tried to hold her back without hurting her. "Professor Umbridge- it's illegal!" but Umbridge took no notice. There was a nasty, eager, excited look on her face that Hermione had never seen before. She raised her wand.
"The Minister wouldn't want you to break the law, Professor Umbridge!" cried Hermione, her eyes meeting Lilith who seemed strangely calm.
"Greengrass, shut her up." said Umbridge.
"I'm sorry." she heard Daphne and in an instant, her mouth was blocked with the same thing the others had.
"What Cornelius doesn't know won't hurt him. In your case Miss Farrow, I think he'd even give me a raise." said Umbridge, who was now panting slightly as she pointed her wand at different parts of Lilith's body in turn, apparently trying to decide what would hurt the most. "He never knew I ordered dementors after Potter last summer, but he was delighted to be given the chance to expel him, all the same..." Lilith shook her head
"I knew it was you."
"Somebody had to act," breathed Umbridge, as her wand came to rest pointing directly at Lilith's forehead. "They were all bleating about silencing him somehow — discrediting him — but I was the one who actually did something about it... Only for you to swoop in and get him off the hook. Not today, though, not now..."
"You're an embarrassment for your position Dolores." Lilith glared at her, not moving a muscle as if she wasn't at Umbridge's mercy. Hermione's heart started to pound loudly in her chest. "By all means, fire away. You won't get anything out of me." Umbridge's face was the shade of deep red.
She took a deep breath and she cried, "Crucio!"
Several reactions came from all the corners of the room. Sebastian started fighting against Goyle who held him under his neck, making it impossible for him to get free. Harry and Neville had a similar reaction. Ginny and Aveline stared at the scene wide-eyed, Luna was crying and Hermione nearly launched herself forward, the gag in her mouth silencing her cries as Daphne pushed her tightly against her, almost as if she was... hugging her? But the only person without any reaction whatsoever was Lilith.
It soon became clear that no screams echoed around the room as the members of the DA truly looked at the scene. Lilith sat tied in the chair but the only difference before and after the curse was the fact that her spine straightened, her knuckles whitened and her jaw clenched. But no sound came out. Umbridge stared at her, puzzled. Her eyes went from Lilith to her wand and back to Lilith.
"I told you, Dolores." Lilith gritted through clenched teeth and Hermione could see beads of sweat on her forehead which told her that Umbridge really did cast the curse. Lilith just... didn't react to it. "You won't get answers from me." Hermione looked at Harry who stared at Lilith dumbfounded. Her eyes shifted to Sebastian and Aveline. Sebastian's eyes almost bulged out of his eye socket and Aveline had tears on her cheeks. But Lilith's remark only made Umbridge double down as she started casting the curse over and over again, hoping to get a reaction out of Lilith. Hermione started trashing more and more in Daphne's arms which seemed to weaken their hold on her the longer the torture continued.
After Umbridge's sixth attempt, she finally got a reaction out of the eldest Farrow. Just not the one she was hoping for. Just as Hermione finally freed one of her hands to reach for her gag, Lilith's body fell limply into the chair she was sitting in, unconscious. Umbridge let out a scream of frustration as she pointed her wand at Harry.
"You're next, Potter."
"Wait!" Hermione cried out as she finally pulled the gag from her mouth, feeling the salt from her tears in her mouth as she looked at the ground, unable to look at Lilith's limp body.
"Harry- Harry, we have to tell her!" she heard muffled sounds from Harry but let out a sob. Lilith bought them time with her own sanity on line. It was time to repay the debt.
"Well, well, well!" said Umbridge, looking triumphant. "Little Miss Question-All is going to give us some answers! Come on then, girl, come on!"
"I'm - I'm sorry everyone," said Hermione. "But - I can't stand it -" it wasn't a lie. She just watched the person she loved being tortured by this woman. She couldn't handle her best friend also being tortured on top of it.
"That's right, that's right, girl!" said Umbridge as she walked closer.
"Now then... with whom were Potter and Farrow communicating just now?"
"Well," gulped Hermione, her eyes still on the floor as the light sobs shook through her body. "well, they were trying to speak to Professor Dumbledore..."
"Dumbledore?" said Umbridge eagerly. "You know where Dumbledore is, then?"
"Well . . . no!" sobbed Hermione. "We've tried the Leaky Cauldron in Diagon Alley and the Three Broomsticks and even the Hog's Head -"
"Idiot girl, Dumbledore won't be sitting in a pub when the whole Ministry's looking for him!"
"But — but we needed to tell him something important!" Hermione was putting on the act of her life, hoping that Umbridge would be stupid enough to fall for it.
"Yes?" she could hear the excitement in her voice. "What was it you wanted to tell him?"
"We . . . we wanted to tell him it's r-ready!" choked Hermione.
"What's ready?" demanded Umbridge, and now she grabbed Hermione's shoulders again and shook her slightly. "What's ready, girl?"
"The . . . the weapon," said Hermione.
"Weapon? Weapon?" said Umbridge, and her eyes seemed to pop with excitement. "You have been developing some method of resistance? A weapon you could use against the Ministry? On Professor Dumbledore's orders, of course?"
"Y-y-yes," gasped Hermione. "But he had to leave before it was finished and n-n-now we've finished it for him, and we c-c-can't find him t-t-to tell him!"
"What kind of weapon is it?" And that was it. Hermione played her like a fiddle.
Before she left the room with Harry and Umbridge in tow, Hermione could feel Daphne sliding her wand back into her pocket.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Finally free of Umbridge, they emerged from the wall of trees only to see their accomplices standing there, wands in their hands and a few bruises and scratches. Ron's lip was bleeding, Sebastian's nose was swollen, and Neville had a huge bruise above his eye.
"So," said Ron and held out Harry's wand, "had any ideas?"
"How did you get away?"
"Couple of Stunners, a Disarming Charm, Neville brought off a really nice little Impediment Jinx. But Ginny was best, she got Malfoy — Bat-Bogey Hex — it was superb, his whole face was covered in the great flapping things. And Greengrass."
"Greengrass?" Aveline nodded.
"Believe it or not, she threw the first few Stunners, that's how we got free." Hermione stared at him. Maybe Daphne Greengrass wasn't as bad as she thought.
"What about Lilith?" Hermione asked quietly. The others exchanged a look.
"She was still unconscious. When we were leaving, Greengrass said she was going to fetch Madam Pomfrey." Ginny said quietly. It calmed Hermione down a little bit. At least someone will look after Lilith. But she still couldn't snap out of her shock from the incident.
"Anyway," Ron continued. "We saw you heading into the forest out of the window and followed. What've you done with Umbridge?"
"She got carried away," said Harry. "By a herd of centaurs."
"And they left you behind?" asked Ginny, looking astonished.
"No, they got chased off by Grawp," said Harry.
"Who's Grawp?" Luna asked interestedly, Hermione could still see the traces of tears on her cheeks.
"Hagrid's little brother," said Ron promptly. "Anyway, never mind that now. Harry, what did you find out in the fire? Has You-Know-Who got Sirius or — ?"
"Yes," said Harry, as his scar gave another painful prickle, "and I'm sure Sirius is still alive, but I can't see how we're going to get there to help him." they fell silent.
"Well, we'll have to fly, won't we?" said Luna in the closest thing to a matter-of-fact voice Harry had ever heard her use. Hermione tuned out the conversation, her mind still on Lilith who just sustained six curses in the row. For them. For Harry. For her. Only because she wrote her a note. She went into Umbridge's cabinet because of her even when she was sure she'd be caught. She deflected the fault from Harry to herself because she knew Umbridge would immediately believe it. And she took the curses, every one of them without making a sound until her body gave up. Hermione felt the heavy guilt sweep up through her. She felt like crying all over again. She was snapped out of her trance by Harry who gently nudged her with his elbow.
"Huh?"
"We need to go." he motioned to others who were already climbing onto something invisible between the trees. Thestrals. "Are you alright?"
"I will be." Hermione quickly pushed her thoughts aside and followed Harry as he helped her find a Thestrals.
"Look, everything I said before," Harry said as he helped her climb up. "I take it back. Your girlfriend's my new hero." Hermione gave him a small smile.
"Tell her that yourself." it felt weird putting her trust into a creature she couldn't see but she trusted Harry.
She took a deep breath as she clenched something in her hand that she hoped was mane. And without any warning, her Thestrals started moving, following Harry's. The uneasy feeling in her stomach didn't go away.