The Truth Behind the Veil ✔️

The Diadem

   Cool autumn breeze rushed through Fawn's hair. She closed her eyes and welcomed the refreshment.

   It had been seven months now since Regulus had been killed. Everyday was a little easier. The boulders weighing in her core had now become pebbles; still there, still noticeable but not as heavy.

   And yet, there were still horcruxes to be found, still lives to be saved, and still one singular year to complete it all.

   Leaves crunched under foot and gravel worked into the grooves of her sneakers as she traveled the path from Hogsmeade to Hogwarts. Yes, Fawn could've Flooed but it wasn't the same. The journey was important.

   The stone walls came into view. Fawn took a deep breath. This was it. Ravenclaw's diadem was hidden among those walls...Supposedly.

   A crow cawed in the distance.

   "Okay," Fawn breathed, "Let's do this."

    Fawn's heart ached with nostalgia as she walked down the halls. Portraits mumbled as she passed. Some younger students gawked at her.

"Is she a seventh year?" one ravenclaw girl wondered aloud.

"Do you think we'll ever look that old?" her friend responded.

Fawn shook her head and chuckled softly. She hadn't realized that twenty years had aged her that much.

    Laughter from past lives echoed in her mind. Hermione's reprimand of Harry and Ron's idiocy mirrored the ones from Lily to Sirius and James.

   Both times were hers now. She'd been forced out of the nineties indefinitely but still felt a pull to it with every giggle heard and every pumpkin pastie eaten. And yet, she knew if she made it back it would never be the same. Her life was too entangled with the Marauders and Co to enjoy the "golden trio" in the same way ever again.

   She was stuck between two worlds with no way to have both.

   Destroying the diadem solidified the choice. The seventies—now eighties—weren't meant for her. Here she was, tracking down the Grey Lady, Helena Ravenclaw, for answers to return to a life she neither belonged to nor didn't belong to.

   The despondent ghost waited for Fawn.

   "Hello Ms. Ravenclaw."

  "What do you want, Fawn Briggs?"

"You know my name?"

  "I know every student and past student's name that is worth knowing."

    A bubble of pride rose in Fawn's stomach. Perhaps being worthy in the eyes of a ghost wasn't much, but for some reason it felt like another sign she was going in the right direction.

   "Do you know where Ravenclaw's diadem is?"

    Helena wavered for a moment. Fierce loyalty shone in her steely eyes with an underlying anger. Her answer was short. That was not an answer she was willing to give. The last time she had, the result had been disastrous.

   "I know he hurt you and your prized possession. It has been cursed with very dark magic to keep him immortal. The only way to destroy him is to destroy the diadem. I will try to keep it as intact as possible and you may keep it for the rest of your existence."

    A single translucent tear slid down the young ghost's face. She smiled. "You are a good person, Fawn Briggs."

"Thank you."

   Ravenclaw smirked the slightest bit. "Being who I am, giving a straight answer is not possible."

   Fawn had been expecting this. "Then give me the best hint you can, Helena."