Faithfully Yours

Chapter 26

word count:1024

The next morning Ebony was woken up by the roar of students talking out in the common area. Apparently, everyone was to remain in their house till the head of the house was to come back to take them a group at a time to the main hall to monitor traffic between the houses. 

Ebony stuck her head out her hair still tousled from sleep and she put on her robes for warmth and tied them closed around her as she stepped into the common room. " What's going on ??"

"Why isn't anyone at breakfast?" The first year she was talking to shrugged and said something about going out in groups of four for each house and back to the dormitories. They are also doing some investigating about the death that happened yesterday, We are all to undergo a screening of memories through the pensive before they go to their classes. It's a little scary that it happened right under the headmaster's nose. Someone has to have the knowledge of how the student died." 

Ebony just nodded and went back to her room getting dressed for the day. wondering why someone would murder another student. Or maybe it's a new beast or an old beast that got woken up somehow? She didn't know. She just knew it was getting serious and people were paying the price. So many questions she had, as to why this was happening. It also meant that her party would be delayed for a while, which she was sure the others understood as the school was on lockdown at the moment.

After getting dressed in her uniform, she double-checked to make sure her pin was perfect on her collar cuff and she looked immaculate to her high standards. As she was head girl of the house she was soon escorting others from the common room to the main hall and to their first classes. The tests were still going on as looking through memories of a whole school was painstakingly slow, there weren't many pensive to just have around. The closer it came to her turn the more she got nervous, She wasn't the type to freak out, but they hadn't caught the murderer yet and it left a pit in her stomach. What if she was next? It wouldn't be the first time she was targeted this year.

Not seeing Violet also put her in a worried state of mind, as they kept the students in their houses and they weren't allowed to roam, just classes and straight to their respective houses. She secretly passed her a note in one of the classes they had together, and before they were escorting she received a note back and she decided to read it while others were changing out books for their next class.

She opened it in a hurry, the note read " Hi, Akra just wanted to let you know they didn't find anything from me but I knew you would worry, It seems your house is next, wish you luck love you, Faithfully your's- Violet" Sighing with relief she folded it back and stuffed it in her robe pocket. Getting a piece of parchment she scribbled a letter back and handed it to her after class right before she escorted her fellow slytherin's to their house. When it was her time to visit the pensive she was afraid they would find out that she was sneaking out, but to their surprise, there was a period of unaccounted-for time that she didn't remember that caused her to raise concern as it was right around the place the murder took place so they held her for some more questioning.

By the time the questioning was over it was time for dinner, lucky for her she was the last one to get questioned in her house, so she escorted her fellow Slytherins to their table and dug into her dinner like she were starving, which she was as they held her past lunch. In the middle of grabbing her jug of pumpkin juice, her owl dropped a package. Looking surprised she opened it and the look of horror and shock was plastered to her face, it was a finger that had her father's ring on it. Ok now she knew someone was having it out for her, the students screamed as they realized what was lying open on the table causing the teachers to come and investigate. 

Taking the evidence the house teacher pulled Ebony aside and asked her to follow them to the nearest classroom the Headmaster following them. As they surrounded Ebony the headmaster addressed her. "Miss Grey, can you tell me whose finger that belongs to?" She nodded and responded quietly still shaken up "Yes headmaster, I believe it's my fathers. He has his own share of enemies that he has made over the years, I have no clue who would risk holding him captive. It seems like I'm a target this year huh." she laughed softly as if it was funny she found it ironic that they would trouble her, he must have done something serious to get a finger removed and they must think she had something of importance that they did this to scare her, which in fact it did a bit she could admit that.

They spent the next hour talking with her about her father and why they would think she could be of any use enough to blackmail her into doing what they wanted, they took out the note that came with the dismembered finger. It read ~ Open the door that leads to the chamber, we know you can speak the language of snakes, or your father's head will be the next thing we mail you. We have eyes everywhere.~

The letter was written with pieces of newspaper lettering so a graphologist couldn't pick apart the identity of the threat. The headmaster looked it over and tapped it muttering revelio the charm to expose hidden things. A small handwritten message appeared in gold as it was revealed. ~ Come Midnight on the day this is delivered, if the chamber hasn't been opened another student will die~