(1) Lux Brumalis (R. Weasley)

Chapter Fifty-Eight

Hermione paces outside of the hospital wing. They've been here almost every day since they went down through the trapdoor, and came out again. Taking turns sitting with Harry. To wait for him to wake up. Ron sits on the floor with Pixie, the two of them feeling a little better about things. If Harry was dead, they would have been told by now. They wouldn't let them sit and wait if he were dead. It is just a case of waiting for him to wake up. It's been four days, so they are all a little worried about him. The doors in front of them suddenly open and Madam Pomfrey stands there, her usual stern expression on her face. She sighs a little. Just knowing that they'd be waiting. She softens a little and then nods towards the hospital wing. Allowing them entrance. Ron and Pixie lurch up from the floor and follow Hermione inside as she rushes forward. Not needing to be told twice.

............

Harry is resting in bed, looking a little pale but not all that banged up but he perks up a little seeing his friends approaching him. Glad to see them all in one piece. Dumbledore assured him that they were all okay, but he wanted to see it himself. Pixie, Ron, and Hermione are all relieved too. To see him up and responsive.

"Harry!" Hermione races to his bedside, she looks about ready to fling herself at him, to hug him, but restrains herself. "Oh, Harry, we were sure you were going to...Dumbledore was so worried...."

"The whole school's talking about it," Ron admits. Harry pales a little at the thought of every student talking about what he went through. What they all went through down there. And that they've had to listen to them talking for days, not knowing what happened after he watched Pixie retreat back behind the fire.

"What really happened?" Pixie asks him. Harry looks at her and then at Ron and Hermione, both seem to share Pixie's desire to know what happened to Harry. Harry nods and lets out a breath before he does tell them everything. Quirrell; the mirror; the Stone; and Voldemort. And they listened patiently, gasping just when they should, and they were even more surprised when Harry told them just what was hiding beneath Quirrell's turban. Just who was hiding in there. It was so absurd that Pixie honestly had a hard time wrapping her head around it, though she believed Harry, he had no reason to lie to them. They've been through so much already that lying seems a bit pointless. "So I was right?" Pixie asks, Harry nods and looks at her. "About Snape....that he wasn't some big bad villain that you so badly wanted to paint him as"

"Yeah" He whispers. "I'm sorry, Pix" He is sorry that they blamed him when he had no part in it. She never once quivered on her loyalty though. Stuck it out. And now she has been proven to have been right about him all along. Vindicated.

"We all are" Hermione adds for her and Ron who nods in agreement. They doubted her and she never once wavered. Hermione kind of hopes Snape knows how loyal his niece has been to him. She hopes Dumbledore knows.

"Sooooo the Stone's gone?" Ron asks, Harry nods. "And Flamel's just going to die?"

"That's what I said, but Dumbledore thinks that....what was it?.....'to the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure.'"

"I always said he was off his rocker," Ron points out but seems rather impressed by Dumbledore.

"So what happened to you three?" Harry asks them.

"Well, I got back all right," Pixie answers. "Hermione was trying to bring Ron around....it took a while..." She glances at Ron who sticks his tongue out at her. "Then we dashed up to the owlery to contact Dumbledore when we met him in the entrance hall, he already knew, he just said, 'Harry's gone after him, hasn't he?'" Pixie mocks a deeper voice, imitating Dumbledore. "And he hurtled off to the third floor."

"D'you think he meant for you to do it?" Ron asks. "Sending you your father's cloak and everything?"

"Well," Hermione argues instead. "If he did, I mean to say, that's terrible, you could have been killed." Pixie nods in agreement.

"We could have been killed" She corrects, Hermione then nods in agreement with her.

"No, it isn't," Harry counters. "He's a funny man, Dumbledore. I think he sort of wanted to give me a chance. I think he knows more or less everything that goes on here, you know. I reckon he had a pretty good idea we were going to try, and instead of stopping us, he just taught us enough to help. I don't think it was an accident he let me find out how the mirror worked. It's almost like he thought I had the right to face Voldemort if I could..."

"Yeah, Dumbledore's off his rocker, all right," Ron voices with a smile. "Listen, you've got to be up for the end-of-year feast tomorrow. The points are all in and Slytherin won, of course"

"Of course" Pixie agrees.

"And you missed the last Quidditch match, we were steamrollered by Ravenclaw without you but the food'll be good." Ron continues, giving Pixie a small nudge that she rolls her eyes at. At that moment, Madam Pomfrey approaches them.

"You've had nearly fifteen minutes, now OUT," she tells Pixie, Ron, and Hermione who all look at her with pleading eyes. But it is not going to work on her.

.......

There have been many things over the year that has shocked, scared, pleased, and thrilled Pixie, but the one thing that she might always remember is the look on Percy Weasley's face when he realises that two Slytherin students are sitting in the Gryffindor common room with his brother, Hermione and Neville, though none of them seems at all bothered by the two snakes in the lion's den.

"Slytherin students are not permitted in the Gryffindor common room" Percy scolds, giving Pixie and Pansy a significant look. Pixie holds up a piece of parchment and gives an overly sweet smile at Percy as he takes it to read it. Shock and surprise cross his features. Pansy attempts to hide her smug smile, but it doesn't work. An actual pass. Dumbledore gave them an actual pass to be in the Gryffindor common room. Percy hums a little and then passes back the parchment before he walks away. Ron smirks and looks at his friend.

"I wish I had a pass that would shut Percy up" He comments as he takes the pass from Pixie to look over it. She sits with Ron, a chessboard set up between them, but neither of them is playing. They've had enough chess for the year. But they are sharing her last candy supplies. She'd rather eat them than take them home. Neville and Hermione are sitting on the floor with laps filled with empty wrappers and of course, there is an open book in Hermione's lap. Despite classes being over and the year has almost ended. Pansy has half a liquorice wand sticking out of her mouth as she lounges in a high backed armchair. It's probably the first time in Hogwarts history that the two houses are sharing space with such ease and laughter.