The Start of Sixth Year

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Their last week in the manor was quiet. Illyria had finally opened back up to Leonora a few days after her father's outburst, crying to the girl that she didn't know if she could survive for another minute in that house. Leonora had of course comforted the girl, reminding her that going to another friend's manor would be just as worse. And her manor was out of the question.

The girls spent the remainder of their summer tucked away in Illyria's room, Leonora only leaving at night when they had both grown too tired to sit up and talk. All of their meals had been ordered, by Illyria, to be brought up so that she could avoid stepping foot outside of the confines of her own room. 

The days had grown incredibly long and incredibly boring, though there was one thing that brought the girls excitement. They had started a countdown for their return to Hogwarts, though with the days droning on, it felt as if was it forever away.

Though daunting, there was one day that the girls were forced to roam further away than their bedrooms in the manor. And that was to go to Diagon Alley. They had left early in the morning, before anyone else in the manor had woken up, and traveled using the floo.

They had arrived before any of the stores had even opened, reminding Leonora of when they visited Hogsmeade for Illyria's birthday. She had been thankful it wasn't as cold.

Planning to make it a full day trip to Diagon Alley, both girls had taken their time browsing the shelves, making some witches and wizards angry from how long they had stayed in front of the displays. Once they had both bought all of their supplies, they spent the rest of the day walking into some shops they had never visited before, most of them having boring stock, reminding them of exactly why they never stepped foot into them.

They didn't return to Malfoy manor until they were sure Illyria's parents would be asleep.

Both girls had packed their trunks as soon as they had returned from Diagon Alley, not fazed by their tiredness as the only thing on either of their minds was returning to Hogwarts.

It had been arranged, through Leonora and Barty, for her and Illyria to travel to his house on September first to go to King's Cross with him and his mother. He had of course said yes to the girl when she had asked, and his mother was more than willing to let the girls tag along, knowing how much her son had fancied Leonora.


September 1, 1978 - Friday

On the day they'd be returning to Hogwarts, Leonora and Illyria found themselves waking up extra early to avoid running into the Malfoys, wanting to leave the manor without being seen or saying goodbye.

Barty had told them to arrive around ten, which is when him and his mother ate breakfast on this day, though both girls were eager to get out of the manor as soon as possible. Their plan was to floo over as soon as they could and stay in his sitting room until he wandered in to greet them around ten.

It was a struggle for them to lug their heavy trunks out of their rooms and down the staircase by themselves without making any noise. The trunks clunked down the stairs, landing hard on each step, making the girls cringe each time and stop pulling them to listen for any other movement in the house. They were afraid to wake the Malfoys, Illyria more so than Leonora.

After a while, longer than they'd like to admit, they had finally reached the sitting room. The girls had decided that Leonora would go first, so she had quickly shoved her trunk in before grabbing a handful of floo powder.

After stepping into the fireplace, Leonora turned to face her friend, a smirk on her lips. "I'll see you on the other side," she said before throwing the powder down and yelling out "Crouch Manor."

Loyalties | Barty Crouch JrWhere stories live. Discover now