"you have me. until the very last star in the galaxy dies, you have me."
With a war on the rise, 8 friends must try to understand their importance in a world that is slowly crumbling around them. Darkness appears out of every place in their lives...
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"We're gonna take care of you, don't you worry"
✯
When classes began, Cleo couldn't have been happier to have something to keep her busy. She was slowly but surely on the mend, making sure that she smiled more often and enjoyed the moments she had with her friends, who had now become her only family.
Professor Dumbledore had called Cleo into his office the night of the sorting ceremony, directly after the feast. He had learned about what had taken place in June, and could hardly imagine the pain that the brave Gryffindor had had to endure over the summer alone.
However, she had assured him and Professor McGonagall (who was present as well) that she was in no way alone through any of it. The professors were rendered almost speechless at the girl's courage.
When Cleo had asked when their training would begin again, Minerva took it upon herself to see that she gains even more training than she had learned the previous year, now that they had the information they did.
One thing no one did understand, however, was how she had managed to escape the Dark Lord's grasp at all that night. When Dumbledore asked, Cleo became quiet again.
The repeated stabbing pain had ceased momentarily, and only a throbbing in her arm remained. She slowly gained consciousness again to find her sprawled on the floor next to her mother's body. She turned her head gently, pain seeping out of every muscle and bone in her body. A single solitary tear cascaded down the side of her face as she met her mother's cold, unmoving eyes. And suddenly, she had strength.
The strength to reach for the wand that her sister had forgotten to disarm her of; the strength to stand even when her whole being screamed at her not to; the strength to stupify the Dark Lord himself and stun Bellatrix Black, sending her flying back into the wall; the strength to glare at Renesme with the ferocity that she did, and the strength to apparate to safety, hearing Voldemort's scream of anger and frustration; all of that strength came from the look on her mother's face. The look that screamed of terror and fear and heartache and pain. The look that showed just how damaged they had been by their eldest daughter's betrayal that led them to their own demise was enough for Cleo to gain the strength to do all of this and get herself out. It was the anger festering beneath her for Ren, the hatred for all that had happened that night. The hatred she felt for herself, and for Bellatrix and Lucius and Narcissa, and even Regulus Black who did nothing but watch as the best friend of his older brother was tortured beyond repair.
She had gotten herself out because she felt so much that it gave her the strength she needed to succeed.
After she had recounted all that had happened, Dumbledore sent her back to the common room for the night. When she entered, everyone was sitting on the infamous red couch by the fireplace.
