❝𝐈 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐨 𝐧𝐨 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝.❞
Jupiter Black has been isolated from the outside world her entire life up until the age of thirteen. During a duel with her mother, Jupiter tragically witnesses her death and flees from...
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𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 5
MY EYES LIFT UPWARDS AND I WATCH AS SPELLS HIT THE PROTECTIVE DOME. There's an army out there. My mother included, and once she gets inside, we are all dead. The Projected version of myself is out there, standing directly beside The Dark Lord. It must stay that way, it must or my plan will fail.
I turn my eyes back to the ghost. "Please, Miss Ravenclaw. That's what you want, isn't it? For it to be destroyed?" She starts to float backwards. "Another swore to destroy it many years ago, a strange boy with a strange name." She backs away. "Tom Riddle." Harry says and she moves further away from us.
"But he lied." Harry nods along. "He's lied to many people." She flies towards us, yelling. "I know what he's done! I know who he is! He detailed it with dark magic!" She moves away again and I rush after her. "Please Miss Ravenclaw. We can destroy it—permanently. But we can only do this if you tell us where it is." She has her back to me.
"You have to trust me, Miss Ravenclaw." She slowly turns to face me, her eyes wide and tear filled. "Strange." She walks around us. "You both remind me of him a bit. But you, Miss, you remind me of another. A woman. Theodora." She whispers my mother's name out before retreating. "She's my mother." I tell her and she starts to fade away.
"It's here, in the castle. In the place where everything is hidden. If you have to ask, you will never know. If you know, you need only ask." The room of Requirment. "Thank you." I call out and rush away, Harry beside me. "I know where it is." I say to him and he runs beside me. "The room of Requirment." We push our way down the tower stairs.
"Harry, you go ahead. I must do something first." My voice is steady, softer than usual, but it carries the weight I need it to. He turns to me, his brow creasing in confusion. His hand lingers in the air, as if he wants to stop me, to ask questions I can't answer. Not now. Maybe not ever.
I give him a smile—a real one, or at least I hope it looks that way. It feels thin, brittle, like glass stretched too far. Still, it seems enough for him. I lean in and press my lips to his, lingering for just a moment longer than I should. He tastes like rain and ash, like the storm we've both been caught in for too long. I pull back before he can feel the tremble in me.
His eyes search mine, and for a fleeting second, I think he knows. Not everything, but something. He watches me like he's trying to memorise the shape of my face, the curve of my smile. My chest tightens.
"Go, Harry," I murmur, softer now. His frown deepens, but he nods slowly. He turns, running, and for a second, I let myself believe he'll look back. But he doesn't. He trusts me. Of course he does. The moment his figure vanishes into the fog, I spin on my heel and apparate.
Pain strikes the second I land. A white-hot bolt slicing through my chest, stealing the breath from my lungs. My knees almost buckle. I stagger forward, my hand slamming against the cold stone of a pillar to hold myself upright. My fingers claw at the rough surface, grounding me while I gasp for air. My vision swims, black spots eating at the edges.
The Dark Lord... he's feeling this too. I squeeze my eyes shut, forcing myself to breathe through the pain. The taste of iron rises in my throat. I swallow it down and push off the pillar, forcing one foot in front of the other.
Every step feels heavier, but I move forward anyway. Because I have to. Because he can't know. Because this is the only way. "Draco!" My voice rips from my throat, raw and hoarse, barely cutting through the chaos. He turns sharply, pale face tight with tension, eyes darting as if expecting an attack. But when he sees me, something shifts. His expression flickers—confusion, suspicion, then something close to recognition.
I push through the surge of bodies, the cacophony of panicked screams pressing in on all sides. My chest is heaving, every breath burning like fire. My throat feels torn, but I force the words out. "I'm calling in my favor." He stares at me, frozen for a heartbeat. People crash past us—some shouting, some falling—but for a moment, it's like we're standing in a pocket of stillness.
His mouth opens, then closes. He looks at me like I've spoken in a language he's forgotten. "Leave, get out of here." My voice drops, barely audible above the noise, but steady. "Promise me. That's all I ask." His eyes narrow slightly, calculating. He's weighing it, weighing me. Maybe he's remembering the moment he owed me. Maybe he's wondering why I'm wasting it on something like this.
But slowly—hesitantly—he nods. Then he frowns. "What about you?" The question is sharper than I expect. Like he actually cares about the answer. I force a small smile, though it feels paper-thin, brittle at the edges. "Don't do anything stupid, Draco," I murmur, the faintest trace of warmth threading through the words.
"You were starting to become a decent person." My hand trembles at my side, fingers twitching, but I don't let him see how hard it is to stay standing. His eyes flick to my shaking hand, then back to my face. I turn before he can ask anything else. Before he can see how much I'm breaking. Before he can try and stop me.
Without another word, I twist on my heel and apparate. The world folds in on itself, squeezing tight around me before bursting open. My feet hit solid ground, but the pain is immediate—a sharp, searing crack through my ribs. I stagger, catching myself against the cold, damp stone of the corridor.
Not now. Breathe. I force air into my lungs, swallowing the burn, and push forward. The walls here are quieter, tucked away from the noise building outside. The storm hasn't reached this part of the castle yet.
I find her near a window, staring out at the gathering dark. Her shoulders are squared, tense, but there's a softness to her eyes. Like she's waiting for something. Or someone.
"Tonks." She turns sharply, her wand halfway raised before she sees me. "Only me." Her eyes sweep over me, softening. "You look like hell." I let out a breath that might've been a laugh in another life. "Can't help it."
For a moment, it's almost easy, standing here with her. But the weight pressing down on me doesn't lift. Her expression hardens. "What's wrong Jupe?" I hesitate, just for a second. Then, quietly, "I needed to see you." Something flickers in her face. She sets her wand down slowly.
"You believed me when no one else did. You trusted what I was doing was right when no one else did." My throat tightens, but I keep going. "You never doubted me, you always trusted me when you didn't need to." Her jaw locks, but she says nothing. I think she understands what I'm saying.
I take a shaky step closer. "I need you to promise me something." Her eyes narrow. "What kind of promise?" I swallow hard. "Whatever happens tonight... keep Remus safe. Keep yourself safe." Tonks stares at me like she's trying to read between the words, trying to piece together something I'm not saying. "What are you planning?" Her voice drops to a whisper. I give her a thin smile, the kind that doesn't reach my eyes.
"Nothing I haven't completely planned out. You know me." I say to her. "That's exactly why I'm worried." I huff out a breath, but it's shaky. My hands tremble at my sides, and I clench them into fists. "You have more to lose than I do, Tonks."
Her eyes flash. "Don't say that, you still need to meet Teddy. Your Godson." But I'm already stepping back. "I'm glad you believed in me. I need you to believe I know what I'm doing now." Before she can argue, before she can stop me, I apparate.
The crack of it echoes behind me, leaving her in the stillness.
