𝐁𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞 𝐀𝐦𝐞 | 𝐇.𝐏.

𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝟕 - 𝟏𝟒

I don't remember leaving the Chamber. 

I remember Hermione slowly lifting me to my feet, I remember leaning on Weasley, and I remember hearing screaming as we left Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.

And then Potter was there, like he had just appeared out of thin air.

"What happened to her?" He asked, and I tried to tell him that I was fine, but the words stuck in my throat. It was hard to breath.

"She—" Hermione started, voice warbling. "The Horcrux, it— it was terrible..."

Potter and Weasley shared a look. I knew something had happened to Weasley after he destroyed the locket, but I'd never thought to ask. Now I was especially glad I hadn't, because it was probably something akin to what I'd just seen.

"Can she... is she okay?" He looked into my eyes like he was searching for something.

Hermione bit her lip and shook her head. I had to say something.

I sucked in a shallow breath and said, hoarse but strong, "I'm fine. I'm okay. I can come with you guys." 

"We were never leaving you," Potter promised. "And I think I know where the next Horcrux is."

When the doors to the Room of Requirement opened, I wasn't sure what I was expecting. Maybe another space like the one we had for the DA, or maybe something like a Gringotts vault with the Horcrux on a pedestal in the middle.

Instead, we were met with what, at first glance, looked like a whole lot of junk. Then I realized I had been here before, with Potter, when I was hiding the potions book for him in sixth year. When he caught my eye, I knew he remembered too.

Then another realization hit me, this one so strong I nearly fell over on my already unsteady legs. The bust I had hidden the book behind... the crown it was wearing...

"Potter..." I began slowly. "I think I know exactly where it is."

Hermione and Weasley looked at me with completely confused expressions, but Potter smiled slightly. "I know you do," he said.

"Come on," I gestured for them all to follow me, still shocked that just last year I had pushed a Horcrux aside without knowing what it was in the slightest. We ran down corridors lined with towering piles of broken chairs with missing legs, odd whirring metal contraptions, and little paper airplanes that had lost their magic by now and could only stir feebly as we passed.

Finally we skid to a halt when something familiar caught my eye. It was the glass cabinet mounted to the wall. Inside was clearly the old potions book and the ugly bust with a glittering ornament on its head.

I hadn't noticed the first time I saw it, but in the middle of all the wrought silver was a ginormous dark blue gemstone, the exact color of Ravenclaw.

As if in slow motion Potter stepped forward until he was next to me and opened the cabinet door with shaking hands. The air was thick and tense as he carefully touched the Horcrux, and when nothing happened he picked it up and stared at it in his hands.

We were all frozen watching him until there were more footsteps, and then a hauntingly familiar voice, one not so different from my own, echoed around the endless room.

"Well, well. What brings you four here?" Draco asked, but I could hear the just concealed terror in his voice.

We all whipped around at the same time, throwing our wand arms out in front of us. The second we did Draco looked straight at me, and my heart stopped completely, just like that, in my chest. Every vision from the Chamber came rushing back to me at nauseating speed, and I wanted to buckle under the weight of my own mind. From the looks of him I think he wanted to do the same. On either side of him were Crabbe and Goyle, just like old times, leering slightly. The entire sight made me sick.