❝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...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 8
THE COLD STONE OF THE CASTLE FEELS LIKE IT'S CLOSING IN AROUND ME. My breath is shallow, too fast, the panic twisting tight in my chest like a vise. I can barely think, my mind a whirlwind of images, flashes of The Dark Lord's cold stare, my mother's silence, and the suffocating weight of what's to come. What must come.
I don't know how I got here—how I ended up rushing through the castle with my heart beating like a drum in my ears. The halls blur around me, the torches flickering like dying embers, casting shadows that make the air seem even thicker.
I need to see him. I need to see Harry. The words echo in my mind as I stumble down the hallway, my feet pounding against the cold stone, too loud, too frantic. He's the only one who might understand. The only one who might even try to understand. But I'm already too late, aren't I?
I reach the door to Dumbledore's office and it swings open with a soft creak. I don't hesitate. I don't even think before I step inside. The room is bathed in the soft golden glow of the candles, the air thick with the scent of parchment and old books. But something is wrong.
Harry stands in the corner of the room, his back to me, his shoulders tense, his hand gripping his wand as if he's trying to hold on to something—anything—to keep himself steady. And then I see it—the Pensieve, the swirling black substance inside it, flickering like a living thing. I can feel the weight of it in my chest, like the memory inside holds the truth I'm terrified to face.
"Harry," I whisper, but my voice is barely a breath, barely enough to shatter the silence that has settled like a tomb. He doesn't turn around. He doesn't even flinch. My heart stops for a moment, a heavy, aching pause that stretches on forever.
"Harry," I say again, louder this time, and finally, he turns. His eyes meet mine—dark, haunted, like he's already lost something he can never get back. And that's when I see it. The pain in his eyes, the guilt already setting in. He knows. He knows what I've been hiding.
"You saw," I breathe, the words slipping out before I can stop them. Harry doesn't speak. He doesn't need to. The silence between us speaks volumes. He saw inside of Pensieve, of the memories I can only imagine to be Snape's, or Dumbledore's. He saw the truth. The truth that I have known all along, that I have been Projecting it in him accidentally. That I am a part of The Dark Lord now, a fragment of his soul lodged deep within me.
And that I must die.
A sickening wave of dizziness rolls over me, and for a moment, the room spins, the edges of my vision blurring. I feel my knees go weak, but I don't fall. I can't fall. Not now. "Jupiter," Harry says softly, but the words feel like a slap to my chest. His voice is laced with something like regret, something worse, but I don't know what it is. Not yet.
"You have too. This has to happen," I choke out, my hands trembling as I reach for him. I want to close the distance between us. I want to reach out, to feel his warmth, to make this all go away. But I know better. I know what's coming.
"Jupiter I won't do it." His voice cracks, and I can hear the tremor of panic, the desperation. "I can't do it Jupe- I can't." My stomach churns, the bitter taste of reality settling in my throat. The truth, as always, is more terrible than I ever could have imagined.
"Harry, you have to do it- please, Harry. If you love me, do it." I say, my voice breaking on the last word. "You have to kill me, Harry. I'm the only way you can win. This.. this is the prophecy. I've known this all along. I'm the Horcrux." His eyes widen, tears slide down his cheeks, the horror dawning in him like the sunrise over a battlefield. But it's too late. I've already said it. I've already told him what needs to happen. What must happen.
"Jupiter..." He sounds like he's choking on the word, like it's too much to bear. "I can't... I can't kill you. I love you, I won't kill you. You're.. you're you, Jupiter." A bitter laugh escapes me, hollow and painful. "And yet, I am not. Not anymore." My words hang in the air, too final, too real.
"The Dark Lord's soul... it's inside me. You can't undo that, Harry. No one can." He stumbles back a step, his face pale, his hands shaking as they reach out towards me, like he might pull me into his arms and save me from the inevitable. But there is no saving me. Not anymore.
"I—I don't know how..." He falters, and for a moment, his eyes seem to lose focus, like he's searching for something in the air, hoping for some kind of answer to just appear out of thin air. But there is no answer. There is only the truth, the cold, harsh reality that I've known all along.
"You don't have to know how," I whisper, my voice barely audible. "You just have to do it. You have to kill me, Harry. Before it's too late." The words tear at my insides, each one more agonising than the last, but I say them anyway. I have to. There is no other choice.
"Jupiter..." Harry's voice breaks. He's shaking now, his hands trembling as he reaches out, his face contorting with guilt, with something I can't even name. "I—I can't..." I feel the heaviness of it—the weight of the curse that binds me, the piece of The Dark Lord's soul that lurks within me, poisoning me from the inside out. I feel it all, every dark fragment of it, gnawing at the edges of my thoughts.
And for a moment, I feel myself begin to break. "I know you can't," I whisper, stepping forward, my heart hammering in my chest. "But you must. If you don't, he will find me. He will kill everyone. And you'll never be able to stop him." The room is silent. The air hangs heavy between us, thick with heartache and realisation of what is about to happen. Harry stands there, his eyes locked onto mine, his chest rising and falling like he's trying to breathe through the suffocation of it all.
And then, slowly, I make the choice for both of us. With one last breath, and a final kiss goodbye, I step forward. I bring my hand to my chest, the cold touch of the wand against my skin, and I press it to my heart. "I'm sorry," I whisper, barely a breath.
