The Three Brothers: The Cure

Legilimency

12th September 1991

Mark stirred awake. It was still dark. He reached for his watch on the nightstand and glanced at the time. Twelve-twenty-five, the arms glowed in the dark. He groaned and sat up. Once he got up in the night, it was almost impossible for him to fall asleep again. Looked like he would have to do with four hours of sleep tonight.

Mark reached for the book that he had been reading earlier—maybe he would doze off in the common room after a couple of hours if he was lucky. As he got up and put on his slippers, he noticed the bed beside him was empty.

'That's odd,' he thought, 'Neville was supposed to be back by now.'

Maybe Madam Pomfrey decided to keep him under observation for another night. It didn't quite make sense—Neville's broken wrist wasn't supposed to take this long to heal. Mark had visited him in the hospital wing before dinner, and Neville had been almost done by then.

An errant thought entered Mark's mind and he hurriedly checked Ron and Harry's beds. Empty. He groaned. Those idiots must have gone to that duel with Draco Malfoy.

It wasn't that Mark didn't appreciate the sentiment; he really did. If anyone needed a good dressing down, it was that arrogant little ponce—almost breaking Neville's Remembrall like that. Mark had nearly landed in a few punches himself, but then Professor McGonagall showed up and he got to his senses.

But this duel at midnight tonight—it smelt of an obvious trap. Draco had walked up to the Gryffindor table during dinner to personally challenge Harry. Before Harry could say anything, Ron had accepted the challenge on his behalf, naming himself as the second (A second was someone who took your place if you died in the duel; Mark learned that when Ron explained it to a confused Harry). Mark, knowing well that the Slytherin would likely not even show up, had tried to reason with the two of them. But Ron brought up the matter of honour; there was no way they were going to back out now and be termed cowards. Mark had hoped they would forget about the whole deal by bedtime—evidently, they didn't.

Mark cracked his neck as he descended the stone steps into the common room. He wished he was back in his room at home; he wouldn't have had to leave the comfort of his bed for any midnight reading. If he wanted to read in his bed here, he would need to use the Lumos charm—that was like trying to read with a bloody light bulb in your hand.

The common room was completely empty, to Mark's surprise. It looked like none of the older students had much homework yet. Shrugging, he slumped onto a plush armchair and opened the book in his hand—Advanced Magical Theory by Osteria Offlewirth—before losing himself in its pages.

He was jerked back to reality when he heard the portrait hole—the entrance to Gryffindor Tower, guarded by the portrait of a Victorian lady that demanded a password for entrance—being thrown open. Multiple figures rushed in, the clatter of their feet and panicked panting heard clearly over the silence of the empty common room.

Mark looked up, expecting it to be just Harry and Ron; he was surprised to see Neville and a bushy-haired girl—Hermione Granger? —with them. All four of them were still trembling, their faces pale in terror. Only Harry seemed to have noticed Mark's presence in the common room.

"What's up?" asked Mark, and Ron jumped back in surprise. Mark was sure that the red-haired boy had been a hair-breadth away from actually shrieking in terror. Since no one answered, he tried again. "Where were you guys? Neville?"

Hermione avoided his gaze—probably feeling embarrassed to be out after curfew. Neville, still trembling, locked eyes with Mark and mumbled guiltily.

"The forbidden third-floor corridor."

The forbidden what? Of all the answers he could have expected, this wasn't one of them. As far as Mark knew, the forbidden third-floor corridor was nowhere near the hospital wing or the trophy room—the location of the clandestine duel that Harry and Ron had gone to. He frowned, and was about to ask what exactly happened when Ron suddenly broke his silence.