Carpe Noctvm (A Barty Crouch Jr Fanfiction)

FOURTEEN - fixed and broken

Keira was walking down the Hallway on a chilly afternoon, she could hear the wind through the castle windows making the hair on the back of her neck stand up. But she was determined, after seeing where B had grown up, and chatting in Leonard's coffee shop again she had more determination than ever, to pull off the deatheater's infiltration of Hogwarts without a hitch.

She had arranged to meet Draco in the Room of Requirement to crack the cabinet one more time. They were so close now she could almost feel it. In a way, she was excited about the attack because B would be there and they would finally be thwarting Voldemort's plan, if not openly then in far greater strength than before.

Keira reached the room of requirement and paced backward and forwards in front of it thinking, 'I need a way for deatheaters to enter Hogwarts', like Draco had taught her to do. She then pushed her way through the door that had appeared and wound around the many piles of objects. 

Draco was already there and was muttering spells at the cabinet waving his wand in complex patterns. He looked up at her when he heard her and gave her a small smile. His eyes were damp. "I think I've almost done it." he said and Keira nodded.

With one final flourish of his wand, the cabinet clicked and there was silence. "Let's test it." Keira said, walking over to the birdcage and pulling out a bright yellow canary. She set it down in the cabinet, shut the door, opened it again, and shut it. Draco squeezed her hand before she opened it the final time.

The bird sat on the floor of the cabinet, chirping softly, when it saw the door open fully it got up and launched itself flying around the massive room. Keira and Draco watched it go.

"I don't think I've quite realized it until now, that now we've fixed the cabinet then it means the only thing left for me to do is kill Dumbledore," Draco muttered, still watching where the bird had disappeared behind a pile of objects.

"I don't think you'll have to, Draco," Keira said and gave him a reassuring smile which he did not return.

"I have to send an owl to Voldemort now," Draco said storing his wand and going to collect his things.

"How long do you think we have?" Keira asked him.

"Well, your fiance has to get everyone out of Azkaban, which I suppose will take a day, and then they'll all go to Borgin and Burkes. So about 24 hours." Draco said, he approached Keira and rested his hands on her shoulders, she thought he might try to kiss her again. Please don't. "Whatever happens I'm glad you helped me, really." He bought her into a hug.

They were not excited, nor did the two tremble with nervousness, a coldness had swept over them, a blanket of hopelessness and inability to change what had been set before them.

The next day Keira was sitting in the Great Hall munching on a pancake while she read today's Daily Prophet. The headline read; "mass breakout from Azkaban, suspected involvement with Barty Crouch Jr and Sirius Black." Keira rolled her eyes, When would they get that Sirius was on their side? Keira's eyes lingered on the image of a blown-up Azkakban with the deatheaters swirling around. She shuddered. B had spent so long in there.

Keira looked up as she saw Draco enter the Great Hall, he was walking quickly and with purpose towards her. He clutched a letter in his hand and when he reached her he thrust it into her hand without saying anything else. He did not sit down.

Keira opened the letter and read it. It only contained a sentence; We arrive at 7 o'clock, be ready.

Keira looked up at Draco who was pale and grim. She beckoned for Draco to leave the hall with her and together they entered the antechamber which was empty, she looked up the stairs and out into the grounds just to be sure before fixing her eyes on Draco. She put her hands on his shoulders to make sure he was listening.