a n c h o r

o n e

"Alex!" Hermione grinned, immediately dropping her bag and rushing to hug her friend as she entered her room at the Burrow. "I'm so happy you're alright."

"I'm so happy to see you," Alexandra laughed. She found it rather amusing that Hermione was hugging her so tightly. She understood why, though, having practically disappeared into thin air during such a horrible event.

"Ginny told me about what Malfoy did," she pointed out. Alexandra shook her head. Having not agreed to the plan in the first place, and after not hearing from him at all afterwards, the topic was a touchy one.

"I don't want to talk about that," Alexandra told her friend. "What are you doing here so early? I thought you were coming with the Order next week."

"There was a slight change of plans," Hermione frowned. "With increasing attacks on muggle-borns, and after agreeing to search for horcruxes with Harry, I had to protect my parents."

"What do you mean?" Alex asked, wondering exactly what Hermione meant by protect.

"I had to erase everything," Hermione explained for the first time, starting to cry. "All their memories of me and their life here. I sent them to Australia in hopes they'll be safer there."

"I'm so sorry," Alexandra frowned, embracing her friend once again. This time, she was the one hugging tightly.

"I had to come right here. I put everything I could into that bag," Hermione continued, pointing to the tiny bag on the floor by the door.

"Are you joking? That thing can't even fit your toothbrush," Alexandra stated, flabbergasted as she picked the bag up in her hands. It wasn't even heavy. Hermione laughed, wiping her tears as she explained the magic to Alex. "Ginny! You're got to see this! Hermione has a whole city in her coin bag!"

"Hermione's here?" Ginny asked, rushing out of the bathroom with her toothbrush still in her mouth. "You're a week early."

"It's a long story," Alexandra stated, knowing by the look on her face that Hermione didn't want to tell the story again. "Speaking of long stories, Hermione's got a million of them in the bloody library she's hiding in this bag!"

One week passed, and Alexandra was still on lockdown while the Order went to retrieve Harry from his home and bring him to the Burrow. She was itching to help, but Ginny wouldn't let Alex leave her sight. 

"What if we called you by the second half of your name? We would call you Andra," Ginny laughed in an attempt to diffuse the tension.

"I feel completely useless," Alexandra complained, lying in her bed.

"You do? At least you're of age," Ginny argued from her own bed. "I feel invisible around those three. Out of all of us, I'm sure they'd ask you for help first."

"It's not like they asked me to join their horcrux hunt," Alexandra pointed out, only slightly offended. "It's always been the three of them against the world."

"Hermione and Ron weren't originally invited until they invited themselves," Ginny explained. "Maybe if you ask, they'd let you join."

"Even if they did, I'd never be able to leave this bloody house," Alex sighed, pulling her blanket over her for comfort as she impatiently waited for her friends to return. "I'm surprised your mum is letting Ron go."

"She most definitely is not," Ginny laughed. "He's planning to turn the family ghoul into himself and making it look like he fell ill. He's mad."

"The world is mad," Alex stated, causing the room to go silent. The current relevance of the statement shook both girls to the core. "Tom once said that my decisions determine the safety of my friends and family. I should just turn myself in. Run away when everybody's asleep."

"Don't think like that," Ginny protested. "We're perfectly capable of protecting ourselves and each other. It's what we've been training for. Nobody gets left behind."

"I feel like someone gets left behind regardless of my decisions," Alex frowned, turning away from Ginny and facing the wall.

"You can't save everyone," Ginny told her.

"Why would Dumbledore show me the prophecy if there was no way to change it?"

"It doesn't even sound like a prophecy to me. From what I've learned, they're really only spoken and don't quite literally show you the future," Ginny explained. Alexandra didn't say anything. "What if it was another one of Dumbledore's plans? What if-"

"It had to be a prophecy. It looked exactly like the ones we study in Divination. It was in the Hall of Prophecies-"

"The one you made up in your head," Ginny pointed out. Alexandra sat up, throwing her head in her hands.

"I'm so stupid," she panicked, lies unraveling in her head once again.

"You're not stupid. I could be completely wrong."

"But it makes sense, Ginny. I read everything there is to know about Divination, and not once did I come across any information that explains unspoken prophecies."

"If they aren't prophecies-"

"They must be memories. Dumbledore must have placed certain memories in the orbs as a way to show me the future," Alexandra quickly realized. Out of everything she could think of, this was the best explanation. "But why go through all that trouble to make me believe they were prophecies?"

"It is quite confusing," Ginny sighed, equally struggling to put all the pieces together. Suddenly, she had an epiphany. "What if he wasn't trying to make you believe they were prophecies? What if he was trying to make Tom believe it?"

"Why would he-"

"Think about it. Every lie he told to you somehow affected Tom as well. What makes this lie any different? Maybe he wanted Tom to believe those memories were prophecies so he would believe they couldn't change. Suppose one of these fake prophecies made Tom believe he's going to win the war. He'll believe it. Don't you think that would affect how much he prepares?"

Alexandra thought back to all the "prophecies" her and Tom saw. There was only one she could think of that would make him believe he would win. The prophecy he had charmed so it wouldn't break; the prophecy that showed Harry Potter dying. That image alone was enough for Tom to expect a win. With Harry dead, he would unstoppable.

Suddenly, Alexandra's mind wandered to the prophecy her and Tom saw a number of times: the prophecy showing Dumbledore's death.

"Maybe he waited to tell me for a reason. I swear I saw the prophecy of him dying change, but I made myself believe it was only a coincidence once he told me it was impossible. Maybe it really did change, and he made me believe otherwise so I would stop trying to change it," Alexandra explained, struggling to get the words she was thinking out of her mouth without sounding too confusing. "Dumbledore had to die that night. It was the only way to truly ensure that Tom believed the prophecies were real."

"That's brilliant!" Ginny exclaimed. It was always satisfying when they solved one of Dumbledore's puzzles. This one, though, was the most satisfying of them all.

"No, you're brilliant," Alexandra grinned. "I don't think I would have ever figured that out if it wasn't for you."

"Do you think this means we can change the future? Everything you saw happen that night in 1998?" Ginny asked, referring to the very vague explanation Alexandra gave her regarding a specific prophecy, or memory, she saw years ago. Alexandra nodded.

"I think it does."