"i know life well enough to know you can't count on things staying around or standing still, no matter how much you want them to. you can't stop people from dying. you can't stop them from going away. you can't stop yourself from going away either."...
"the thing I realize is, that it's not what you take, it's what you leave."
~ jennifer niven
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Faint clanging of pots and pans indicated that Ophelia and Luna were nearly at the entrance. The older Weasley twins had mentioned once or twice that the house elves who worked in the kitchens were always more than happy to give food to students who were kind to them, so Ophelia wasn't worried about getting into trouble. The girls slid through the gradually narrowing passage, squinting to try and make out the exit, their only light source coming from the end of Ophelia's wand. As they neared the back of what seemed to be a painting, Ophelia paused, holding her wand up to the stone wall on her right.
"Moony, Padfoot, Prongs + Stone," the redhead read aloud, "11/5/1976. Aren't they the names on the map?"
Luna studied the map before scouring the wall. "The first three are, but there's no sign of a Stone anywhere. Curious. Maybe it's another name for Wormtail."
Ophelia had started to continue towards the seemingly dead end as the blonde followed. "Do you think they could've been students here?"
"Possibly."
~~~
A few house elves were cleaning the five tables that spread across the large room, positioned almost identically to the Great Hall above. The crackling log fire on the left side of the kitchen made the girls' shadows dance across the room, warming their small faces, highlighting the smudges of dirt they had acquired from squeezing through the cold passages. Ophelia had cleared the map with a simple tap of her wand and saying 'mischief managed' while Luna was swinging closed the door they had entered through, disguised as a painting of Hogwarts Castle.
"And where the bloody hell did you two come from?"
Ophelia froze on the spot, looking to where the voice had come from. A boy dressed in Gryffindor robes was sat on a table in the far corner, helping himself to some pies that hadn't been eaten at the start of term feast. He was quite tall, with short brown hair and spoke with a clear, Scottish accent. Definitely older than the two Ravenclaws.
"It's quite simple, really." The blonde piped up, "We started at Ravenclaw tower, taking the spiral stairs to the fifth floor, and then we walked along the West corridor until we reached the third knight..." Luna continued to explain their entire journey to the kitchen, while the boy just frowned at the pair.
"Aight." The boy had slid off the table now, moving towards the next table that was covered in different fruits, picking up a bowl of strawberries. "How did you find it though? The passage, I mean."
Luna went to tell the Gryffindor about the map, holding up the now plain piece of parchment, but Ophelia cut in first, remembering George had sworn her to secrecy.
"My brother George told me about it a while ago, he wrote down the directions for me when I got my letter." She wasn't completely lying, she did know about it because of George.
