Braving the Past

Chapter 57: Werewolf of London

Don't Fear The Reaper - Tom Rhodes

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Minerva couldn't take it anymore. It had been nearly two full days since her students had left for their missions. She was making herself sick with worry. Surely, she should have heard something by now? Were they not instructed to alert her once the horcruxes under their marks were -

Her thoughts were interrupted by a pale blue light entering the room. Minerva grabbed at her chest as a patronus lumbered toward her.

A bear.

Molly.

Minerva let out a breath, her racing heart finally receiving a small reprieve. Her tight mouth began stretching into a relieved smile.

Molly's bear opened its mouth. "The dragon fire - it worked - the cup is gone -" The bear flickered, then winked out.

Minerva waited, hardly allowing herself to breathe. The mist reappeared once again.

"There's no way out -" She could hear the pain in Molly's voice. "Please - please tell my beautiful Ginevra -"

And then it was gone.

Disappeared into a wispy mist until no shred of light remained.

Minerva stumbled forward. Her hands grabbed hold of the wooden chair in front of her for support, fingers gripping so tight it creaked beneath the strain.

The only sound left was her ragged breathing, and the large teardrops hitting the table with a gentle tap tap tap.

Molly. Sweet, caring Molly.

Had they all received the same fate? Killed while Minerva had waited in this claustrophobic cottage like a coward? Her beloved friends and students...

Minerva reigned in her sorrow, wiping her cheeks and her nose even though fresh tears immediately replaced them.

Miss Granger said to destroy the diadem as soon as she got word from others. She had already waited long enough after Severus had come back. So she reached a shaking hand to her hair and pulled a single hairpin from her bun.

With a quick tap of her wand, it was transfigured back into the Ravenclaw diadem. A fresh tear fell down her cheek as she made her way to the back door that faced the sea. She would need it to quell the fiendfyre once this horcrux was taken care of.

But she did not make it to the door before a window crashed upstairs, followed by the sound of splintering wood as the front door was blasted open.

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Hermione blinked her eyes open, vision blurry.

Her entire body ached, as if she had been worked to exhaustion for weeks. As her vision cleared, the bright lights above drove daggers into her sockets. But she could not flinch away. Could not stretch the stiffness from her body.

She could not move.

Hermione couldn't remember what had happened after Umbridge had taken her and Malfoy into this private room. But she was clearly still under the Full Body-Bind Curse. She could only just make out Malfoy to her left by pushing her eyes as far to the side as they would go. He did not stir.

"Good," that loathsome voice said from behind her. "You're awake."

Umbridge clacked her heels on the linoleum floor as she walked to Hermione. With a self-satisfied smile, she observed her prey from head to toe. She pressed her thumb into a spot on Hermione's arm, and pain shot through her nerves. The closest she could get to wincing was the slightest squint of her eyes.