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“Next June?” Ron said in disbelief. “You won’t even be seventeen!”

“Last time I looked, that wasn’t a requirement.” Draco tried a smile. It never reached his eyes. “Maybe we should try to get it made one. Put up signs like they have on kiddie rides. You must be this old to die.

Hermione made a little mewling sound and launched herself forward. Draco opened his arms just in time as she impacted with his chest, and Luna quickly caught him against her shoulder, stopping him from going over backwards.

Harry realized his mouth was open and closed it. She’s barely touched us in months—she was getting to where we could sit next to her, go skin to skin for a moment like with a scent-touch, but she wasn’t ready to hug us again or even hold our hands—

Judging by the look on Draco’s face, what could be seen of it over Hermione’s shoulder, he was going through the same process of astonishment, though with an added layer of guilt about being the reason Hermione had broken her solitude sooner than she was ready. Harry caught his eye and gave him an alpha’s Snap out of it glare, though he managed to hold back what he was really feeling, which could be best put into words as You’ve known about this for nine months and you haven’t told anyone? Did you want to be more screwed up in the head than you already are?

Of course, knowing Draco, the answer was probably yes.

Luna had her wand out and was drawing a circle in the air above Draco and Hermione’s heads. A wall of gray smoke surrounded them as she finished, and she scooted forward so that she could see the rest of the Pride around the Privacy Spell. “There was more to the vision,” she said quietly. “I don’t like it, but I think you should hear it all now that you know part of it.”

She told it simply, in few words, but Harry had no trouble picturing the place she was describing, though he’d only been there in the wintertime and the vision had been set in the summer. It made sense, in a dark and awful way, that the Pack would bury the second of their cubs to die in the same ground as the first. For a moment, he wondered if his parents would come for Draco the way they had for Marcus, or if it would be Draco’s own mother who would be waiting...

Only it won’t be either, because it isn’t going to happen like that. It can’t. Draco’s got the whole Pack and Pride looking out for him, even more now that we know about this—how could he die?

But the words rang hollow against the inside of Harry’s ears. Having people who loved you and wanted to protect you, he knew from more experience than he wanted to think about, was no guarantee that you wouldn’t die.

Especially in a war.

“Luna, I can’t believe you’re so upset about this,” Ginny was saying as Harry came back to awareness of his surroundings. “Yes, what you said to Malfoy makes it sound like you were turning to his side, but all that means is that you were lying! You have to have been!”

“I wasn’t lying,” Luna said quietly, her eyes on the padded floor. “Neither of us said anything that wasn’t true at all.”

“How do you know?” Ron asked.

“I can See it when people lie. Or maybe Hear is a better word.” Luna tapped her right ear with a finger. “It’s something in their voice, like an echo of the way their words should go, the same way I can See an aura around an Animagus or a person who’s disguised with Polyjuice. Sometimes, if the truth is very strong, I can even Hear it within the lie. But I didn’t See or Hear any lies in that vision. Every word we said was true.”

Before anyone could respond to this, a loud knock sounded on the kitchen door. Neville, who was closest, started to stand up, but Harry waved for him to stay put, so as not to dislodge a shivering Meghan.

I’ll bet I know who this is...

“Come in!” Harry called.

The door opened, admitting Padfoot and Moony in a two-way tie and winning Harry his mental bet. Letha was just behind them, and Meghan let go of Neville to latch onto her mother and begin crying for real. Danger waved Neville over and said a few words to him, and he nodded and went into the kitchen, shutting the door behind him.

Maybe his mum wants to see him.

Moony had disappeared inside the Privacy Spell masking Draco and Hermione, and Padfoot was helping Letha to sit down without letting go of Meghan. Danger made her way across the floor towards the green bedroom where Luna stood waiting, though she stopped halfway there beside Harry to bend down and kiss the top of his head. “Surprised?” she murmured.

“Not really,” Harry admitted. “Your pendants?”

“Here, feel.” Danger guided his hand to the side of her neck. The metal was noticeably warmer than her skin. “And this is cooler than it was. I’d guess none of yours went off because you’re already all here, where the trouble is.”

“Makes sense.” Harry got to his feet, so as to continue this conversation more on a level, though these days he was looking down where he’d once looked up. Ginny, he saw in passing, was talking quietly to Ron, who was still shaking his head as though denying what he’d heard could make it stop being true.

Like I’m doing any different?

He put that thought aside and looked at Danger again. “You knew,” he said, making it a statement and not a question.

“Luna told me the day it happened.” Danger scent-touched him, smiling lopsidedly as she reached up to his cheek. “I’ll need to have a word with the house-elves, they’re obviously feeding you far too much, you keep getting taller. Yes, Harry, we four knew about this. Do you think we ought to have told you?”

Yes, was Harry’s immediate response, which he sat on. “I don’t know,” he said aloud. “I wish we’d found out sooner, but it wasn’t yours to tell. And it isn’t like knowing will change anything—or will it?” Something from one of Professor Jones’ classes last month had just occurred to him. “Aren’t there two types of visions, one that you can’t change and one that you can, and you never know which type you’ve had until after the time comes that the thing you Saw happens or doesn’t happen?”

“It’s a good thing I’m your mother, no one else would have understood that,” said Danger, laughing a bit under the words. “That is one of the theories of foreknowledge, yes, that visions may be either preventable or predestined. I understand there are very spirited arguments over whether or not the Seer can tell which sort she, or he, is having. But does it really make a great deal of difference at this point, love?”

Harry stared at his Pack-mother for a second, torn between asking her at the top of his lungs if she’d lost her mind and simply Stunning her on the assumption that she had. His voice, all by itself, came up with the compromise of “Yes?”

“Are you sure?” Sadness tinged Danger’s smile, but it was real for all that. “We know we’re in a war, Harry. People will die. Other people may turn their coats, go over to the other side. Those groups might or might not include Draco and Luna. We can’t know for sure until we get there.”

“Yes, we could,” Harry pointed out. “If it was a vision that will happen no matter what.”

“And if it was?” Danger’s brown eyes, with only the occasional flicker of blue betraying her connection to Moony, held Harry’s green in a steady gaze. “If you knew without a doubt that this vision were true—that in a little over a year’s time, Draco will die and Luna change sides—what would you do about it today, here and now?”

Harry started to answer, then stopped as his brain caught up with his voice. “I don’t know,” he said at last. “I wish I did.”

“So do we, Harry-kins.” Danger hugged him tight, rubbing her head against his as she did when they were both in wolf form. “So do we.”

I liked it better when I thought parents knew all the answers. Harry watched as Danger finished her interrupted trip across the Den and followed Luna inside the green bedroom. I probably ought to be happy that they trust us enough to let us know they’re not perfect.

But somewhere inside him still lived a little boy who knew, with the certainty of a prophet who has seen his god face to face, that the four grownups in his life could fix every problem and solve every mystery. Hurts and scary things came sometimes, but then they went away, because the Pack was stronger than they were.

And you know what? We still are. Dropping to the floor, Harry squirmed into Wolf’s shape and bounded over to Padfoot, who was curled up in dog form beside Letha and Meghan. We’re going to get hurt. Badly hurt, if the vision is true. But we knew that would happen—they knew it would happen, when they took me out of that cupboard. They knew any family of mine were going to be hip-deep in this war, and they accepted that.

He lay down beside his godfather, fitting his belly against the older canine’s back. I’ve accepted it for myself, and the rest of the Pride must have, or they wouldn’t be here. We’re going to fight this war, and damn the consequences, because the consequences of not fighting would be a whole lot worse.

Padfoot whuffed a greeting to Wolf as they settled into place together. Meghan lifted her head and smiled tearfully at him, and Letha reached over to scratch between his shoulder blades. Wolf whined in pleasure and twisted so that her fingers reached the itchiest places.

If Draco is really going to die, he vowed to himself, this is what we’re going to do for him. Make the rest of his life the best it can be—and then get whoever kills him, and do it with style.

As for Luna... He shrugged, which coincidentally brought Letha’s nails into contact with another itchy spot. Talk to Hermione about some variation on the Tongue-Tying Jinx we’re using for the DA, to make sure Luna can’t tell what she knows even if she does decide to change sides. Maybe even an Unbreakable Vow, though that’s a little drastic...

But then again, so was one of his Pride becoming a Death Eater.

Worry later, was Wolf’s contribution to Harry’s cogitations. Get scratched now.

It was the best advice Harry’d heard all night. He took it.

No matter if the vision’s true or false, we have a year.

Let’s make it a good one.


Within the Privacy Spell, Moony the lion lay in a tight curl. Snow Fox had burrowed up under one of his front paws, and Neenie the cat had positioned herself between him and the rest of the world. From the way their ears were twitching, Moony knew they were having one of their silent conversations, but he had no way of listening in.

Not that I think I’d want to. She’s probably still berating him for not telling her this before, and he’s trying to justify himself, not realizing that shouting at him is her way of trying to keep it from ever happening. If he’s available for scolding, in her mind, he can’t be dead or in serious danger of dying. So as long as she can scold him for something...

He wished he could believe as much himself, but he knew painfully well that the world inside a person’s mind and the world outside didn’t always, or even usually, match up. Just because you hadn’t made your peace with someone was no reason they couldn’t die.

But right now, if it brings her comfort, let her believe it. She needs all the comfort she can get.

A flutter of movement near his paw, and Hermione was sitting up, pushing her hair out of her face. “You can turn back,” she said, her eyes moving from Snow Fox to Moony as she spoke. “I don’t mind.”

Moony rumbled dubiously. Are you sure, Kitten? We’ve been working towards it for a while now, but this is quite a time to take that step...

“Please,” Hermione added. “I need you.”

Curse the girl, she’s been talking to her big sister again.

I beg your pardon? said a distracted voice in the back of his mind.

Nothing, nothing. Moony provided the mental equivalent of a shooing hand as he rearranged himself into a position which would be physically possible for a human to assume. Just thinking about you, no need to stop what you’re doing.

Understood. Love you. A fluttering feeling like a kiss, and the link closed again.

“Why now?” Draco asked Hermione as Remus slid back into his human form. They were holding hands, so Remus assumed the vocal speech was for his benefit. “Not that I’m not glad for it, but why now?”

Hermione scooted around the interior of the Privacy Spell until she was next to Remus. Cautiously, he extended an arm, and she leaned into it, pulling Draco into her embrace and allowing Remus to hold them both. “Because you need me now,” she answered. “And your need is greater than mine.”

As if the words had been a prechosen signal, Draco took one shaky breath and started to cry, by the sound of it letting go of every tear he’d been hiding since he’d first seen the name and date on the gravestone in the vision. Hermione cradled him against her shoulder and stroked his hair, humming deep in her throat in the closest approximation of a purr her human form could produce. Remus drew them close, breathing their mingled scent, and fought his own tears. He had them now, warm and alive in his arms, and no future was certain until it happened.

Fine words, but no words ever stopped pain from coming yet.

“I don’t want to die,” Draco sobbed, turning his head to press his face against Remus’ robes. “Why me? I’m not done living yet—I barely even started! It isn’t fair!

Life isn’t fair, Fox. Remus bent his head to lay his cheek on the top of his Pack-son’s head. You just have to take what comes and do your best with it. But you know that already, and it wouldn’t help you now to hear it again.

One tear escaped the corner of his eye and fell into Draco’s hair, lingering for a moment on the fine strands before soaking in. I wish I could take this from you. I’m not done living either, but I’ve come farther than you have, and I’ve always known my life would be shorter than some. If I could find some way to undo the binding on Danger, to leave her alive and take your place in this...

But no. You’d never forgive me if I did that, nor would she. And I think Sirius and Letha might have a few things to say about it as well, not to mention Harry and Meghan and your twin here. He lifted a hand to Hermione’s face to wipe away the tears that had started to spill from her eyes, and felt almost guilty at his rush of joy when she neither flinched nor shivered away from his touch.

This is the dark side of our Pack, the trouble with our lives being so intertwined—when one of us goes away, nothing ever seems quite right. And from this going away, there will be no return.

We’ll rebuild, once the shock is over. We’ll find new patterns, new paths through our days. The wound of your loss will, eventually, heal.

His fingers slid across the raised line on Hermione’s cheek.

But it will leave our souls scarred forever.


By unspoken consent, the night after the adults left became an impromptu Den, so it was to a pajama-clad Pride that Hermione explained why Dumbledore had asked her to stay behind.

“He thinks the ‘far-off Seeker’ might be Viktor,” she said, rubbing Snow Fox’s ears where he lay in her lap. “He’s studied the spell we’re supposed to be breaking with our year, and it was done with very old, very Dark magic. The Hogwarts library won’t have the books that would tell him what he needs to know about it.”

“But Durmstrang’s will,” said Ginny. “They’ve always been more interested in Dark Arts there.”

“Why doesn’t he just ask whoever’s Head there now?” Harry said, reheating his hot chocolate, which had started to get tepid.

“He doesn’t want it to get about what we’re doing, at least not before we start.” Hermione held a bit of shortbread where Snow Fox could nibble at it. “It’ll be harder to stop us with pure magic once we start the year than it would be before we begin.”

“With pure magic?” Ron repeated. “What else is there?”

“Once the year starts, lots of things,” said Neville, who had returned from his conversation with his mother around the same time the house-elves had delivered the evening’s snacks. “Getting someone who’s part of it to betray the others, or two people to have a bad fight. We’ll have to pick out who we want to do this really carefully—there’re some people in the DA I barely trust behind me with a wand or a potion piece.” This, after two months of experimentation, had become the accepted name for what the DA artillery carried. “And a year’s a long time.”

“Too long some ways,” said Meghan a bit hoarsely. “Not long enough for others.”

Everyone avoided each other’s eyes for a moment.

“Well, we know what we have to do next,” Harry said when he thought he could trust his voice again.

“What?” said several people at once.

“Neenie, Luna, Neville, and Meghan.” Harry pointed at his Pridemates as he named them. “You four are going to pick out who’ll be in our year. Get good, steady people, the kind who’ll understand the difference between a disagreement and a fight. Remember, you don’t have to love them, you just have to be able to put up with them.”

“Right,” said Neville as Meghan nodded.

“Do you want me to watch them and see if I think they’ll make trouble?” Luna asked, her usual serenity back and unruffled as ever. “It would be easier if someone asked them questions about it. Then I’ll be able to Hear if they’re lying when they answer.”

“Got that?” Harry said, looking from Hermione to Neville. “Questions. Don’t be insulting, but try and cover as much ground as you can. We’ll only get one shot at this.”

“What about us?” said Ginny. “What’ll we be doing while they’re picking out people?”

“We four,” Harry indicated himself, Ginny, Ron, and Draco, “are going exploring. We’re taking the Map, my Cloak, and a lunch, and I hope none of you needed this weekend for homework, because we’re going to find a place to build a Sanctuary, and we’re not coming back until we do.”


He’d better have been kidding about the not coming back thing. I have two feet due for Professor Flitwick on Monday, another foot and a half for Professor Sinistra on Tuesday, and Professor Jones keeps dropping hints about another project...

Ginny tucked an extra pair of socks into her pocket, just in case.

The explorers met in the entrance hall, skirting Filch and Mrs. Norris, who gave them matching nasty looks but said nothing, probably because not even Filch’s interpretation of the rules could make being in a public area of the school at nine o’clock in the morning on a Saturday look bad.

Though I’m sure he’d love to try.

“So where are we starting?” Draco asked, fastening his outdoor cloak.

“Out by the lake.” Harry led the way out the big oak doors. “Near that big boulder, you know the one.”

“You mean where the...” Ron coughed into his hand. “...the you-know-what lets out?”

“That’s the one.”

As they approached the boulder, Ginny noticed a shimmering in the air above it. She was just about to mention it when it shot down to ground level and turned into decidedly more than a shimmering.

“What do you want here?” demanded the Bloody Baron, glaring at them all in turn.

Harry stepped half a pace forward and gave the Baron a respectful bow. “We’re searching for a safe place, sir,” he said. “Somewhere to hide our friends from people who want to hurt them.”

“Hmph.” The Baron turned away. “Search somewhere else,” he said, seemingly to the lake. “This spot belongs to me today. Go back to your beginnings, and leave me to mine.”

He vanished again, leaving only the vague disturbance in the air Ginny had seen at first.

“Go back to your beginnings?” Draco repeated as the half-Pride retreated from the boulder. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Remind me why we were going there again?” Ron asked Harry over this.

Harry shrugged. “The Den’s underground, as far as we’ve ever been able to tell. The Chamber of Secrets is too. I thought we might be able to find something else underground, a room or a cave no one else knew about. A tunnel seemed like a good place to start.”

Their wanderings had brought them within sight of Hagrid’s Place. Ginny smiled at the sight of two or three girls of the DA, taking it in turns to scratch Fang with one hand while they practiced their quick-draw technique with the other.

“Go back to your beginnings,” Draco said again, following Ginny’s line of sight. “I don’t think he meant for us to go home...”

“Beginning as students,” Ginny picked up the thought. “We all began as students here the same way. Hagrid met us at the train.”

“Took us down that path to the lake,” recalled Ron. “All those little boats we came across in.”

“No more’n four to a boat,” Harry quoted. “I remember we got split up from you, Fox, we had to wait for you when we got to the other side...”

Ginny stiffened, and heard Harry’s simultaneous intake of breath. Draco’s eyes lit up and Ron brightened only a second later.

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” said Harry.

“I think we are,” said Ron. “But how do we get there from here?”

“There were steps that led right up to the front door.” Draco pivoted, peering towards Hogwarts. “They shouldn’t be too hard to find.”

“Come on, then!” Ginny took off running, hearing her Pridemates’ heavier steps behind her.

The tunnel to the Hogwarts Den might be closed to them today, but the harbor where the first years’ boats moored was always open.


The cave was just as quiet and cool as Ginny remembered it, the little boats bobbing against their lines as the waves on the lake rose and fell. The four Pridemates spread out, running their hands along the walls, searching for any sign of a secret. Harry had the Map open, and was frowning over it.

“What’s wrong?” Ginny asked, coming to stand beside him.

“This.” Harry jabbed a finger down. “It keeps coming and going—look, there it is again.”

Ginny looked, and saw a thin section of green lines appear for an instant before fading away again. “Is it only there when we do something?” she said. “Like the doors that have to be tickled, or the one staircase that goes from up to down if you sneeze while you’re climbing it?”

“I don’t know. At first I thought it was triggered by talking, but it showed up when we were all quiet—there it is! Everyone, freeze!”

Ron stopped in the middle of leaning out over the water to take a lantern from one of the boats. Draco was standing near the edge of the dock, both hands on the rock wall. Ginny held her breath, watching the lines on the Map blur for an instant, then stay solid.

“Ron,” Harry said under his breath. “Stand up and back away.”

Ron took a careful step backwards from the water’s edge and went still again.

“All right, you can move. It’s not you. Draco? Come towards me, one step.”

Draco sidled to his right. Immediately, the lines faded.

“Ah-ha.” Harry waved his brother back to his former place. “I don’t know if it’s specifically you or just someone standing there, but—hold it—when you’re there, the Map says there’s a passage—” He stopped two paces away from Draco. “Here.”

“How’ll you know if it’s really there?” Ron asked.

“Like this.” Harry thrust out his hand towards the rock.

It went through as though nothing more solid than smoke barred its way. Ron whistled in amazement, and Ginny held back a shiver at the sight of Harry’s arm apparently entombed to the elbow in solid rock.

“Can I move yet?” Draco asked.

“No!” Harry snatched his arm back. “All right, now you can. Let’s see if it stays now that it knows we’ve found it.”

Draco stepped away from the spot which had triggered the passage’s opening, looking up and down at his surroundings as though memorizing the spot. Harry felt at the wall. “It doesn’t seem to—wait, I lied, here it is.” His arm disappeared again, and the rest of him followed. “It’s all right!” his voice echoed back from within the wall. “There’s room for everyone, you can come in!”

“Someone does know where we are, right?” Ron asked.  

Draco shook his head. “Not a soul.”

“Maybe the Bloody Baron,” Ginny added. “But I don’t think he’ll care if we disappear.”

“Thanks, that makes me feel so much better about this.”

“I’m your sister. It’s my job.”

Draco in the lead, Ron bringing up the rear, they entered the hidden passage Harry had vanished into.

This might have started as a natural tunnel in the rock, Ginny noticed as they walked, but someone had improved it. Her wandlight picked out several places where weak spots had been braced or low openings cut larger. Ron still had to duck through several of them, but no one had to crawl, and they caught up with Harry in only two minutes of walking, mostly downhill. He was standing in a cave about the size of Ginny’s bedroom at the Burrow, peering around with the aid of a ball of fire which he’d set to hover over his head.

Just when I’m about to forget how weird we all are even for wizards and witches, someone finds a way to remind me...

“Three ways to go from here,” Harry said, pointing them out. “That one sounds like it leads down to the lake, listen.” The slap of water did indeed come from the passage on the left, to which he was pointing. “So that leaves these other two. Which one first, do you think?”

Draco’s head turned, as though he were listening to something. “First,” he repeated, his voice dreamy. “We aren’t the first to be here.”

“How do you know?” Harry asked.

“Someone had to hide that entrance,” said Ron. “Why bother, unless they’d left something down here?”

“And someone cleaned up that tunnel we came in by,” Ginny said. “It was probably a lot harder to get through before they fixed it.”

“The first to come here is still here, see.” Draco moved between Ron and Ginny, his steps unusually gliding. His voice sounded different, too, Ginny realized—it had picked up a lilting quality she hadn’t heard from him before. “We will find her if we come this way.” He ducked under the low arch of the tunnel to the right. “Will you come?” he asked, turning back to look at them.

Ginny swallowed. It might just be the effect of her and Ron’s lit wands and Harry’s fire, but Draco’s eyes looked... creepy. Almost as if they were shining with their own, inner light...

“We’re coming,” said Harry, waving Ginny and Ron in behind him. “Just give us a second.” He turned to face the Weasleys. “Stay ready,” he breathed. “I don’t know what’s going on, but I don’t think it’s normal.”

“Gee, what a surprise,” Ron muttered.

Ginny kicked him in the shin and followed Harry into the tunnel. It was much shorter than the first one—fifteen steps and they were into the next cave. Water dripped from its ceiling, leaving stone trails behind it in several places. Draco stood in its center, staring at the right-hand wall. Ginny didn’t blame him.

The cave was a tomb. A stone sarcophagus lay on a low shelf of rock against the wall, its occupant carved life-size on its lid. Her wrinkled face looked troubled, as though even in death she hadn’t found peace. Gnarled hands held a slender wand, which pointed towards one of the back corners of the cave. As one, the four Pridemates turned to follow its line.

A large tunnel gaped at the other side of the tomb. Ginny frowned, consulting her mental map. “If the tunnels run straight, that should take us to the same place as the other tunnel out of that main cave,” she said.

“Wonder who she is?” said Ron, aiming his wandlight at the sarcophagus. “There’s no carvings on here, no name or anything.”

“There’s something up on the wall.” Harry waved a hand, and the crude letters sparkled as tiny flames glimmered to life within them. “It looks like Latin. Filia serpulae sum, sed non mala.

“I am the serpent’s daughter,” Draco translated, still in the same singing tone as before. “But I am not evil.” He took two steps closer to the sarcophagus, looking down at the stone woman lying atop it. “Not that she ever believed it, not after what she did—for all that anyone could ever say to her, look you, she was still sure that her soul was torn in two by her actions, that she would rest unquiet forever, seeking through the ages for some way to redeem herself.”

His head snapped up, and he went rigid, staring at the wall beneath the words. “I see it now as I did not then,” he breathed. “A cunning trap, worthy of the one who sprang it. I was hurt, the boy too young, and she had not the strength to take us both... the water came down so fast, there was no time to choose, whoever was left would die...”

He reached for the carved hand of the woman on the sarcophagus. Ginny started forward to grab him, but Harry was faster—flames sprang up around the woman’s figure, startling Ginny into a gasp and making Ron take a step back.

Draco pulled his hand away and stared at the flames in confusion. “That gift, here?” he said. “Have the Houses reconciled? Perhaps the time is come indeed, then...”

Two deliberate steps backwards brought him into the center of the room again. He turned around, smiled at his Pridemates, and collapsed, crumpling like an empty set of robes.

Ginny caught him before he hit the ground and lowered him the last few inches, getting her hand against his neck as she did. “He’s alive,” she said. “But he’s chilled through. Harry?”

“On it.” Harry pointed at his brother. Tiny blue flames appeared all over Draco’s robes, warm but not hot to Ginny’s hands as she laid him in a more comfortable position. “What was that?”

“It looked like he was being possessed,” Ron said, aiming his wandlight down the tunnel they hadn’t entered by. “But he wasn’t fighting it.”

“It didn’t seem evil.” Ginny looked around at the room. “None of this does. Sad, but not evil.”

“He sounded like he knew her, whoever she was,” said Harry, nodding towards the stone woman. “And that bit about the Houses... it says on the wall ‘serpent’s daughter,’ and he said that right after I used fire...”

Draco stirred. “Wha’happened?” he mumbled.

“We’re not sure,” said Ginny. “Can you open your eyes?”

“Maybe. How d’they work?”

“Eyelids go up,” said Harry. “It lets you see all kinds of pretty lights.”

“Remind me to hit you when I can move next.” Draco opened one eye a fraction. “Where are we?”

“Underground,” said Ron, his back still to Draco as he peered down the unexplored corridor. “We came in through the harbor.”

“That I remember.” Draco got the other eye opened, and after a moment of struggle focused on Ginny. “Walked through this long tunnel, found Harry in a little cave, and then I was on the floor.” He tried to push himself upright, but his elbows wouldn’t take his weight. Ginny slid her arm behind him and lifted, then braced him as he looked around. “Something’s different...”

“This isn’t the same cave we were in at first,” said Harry. “Do you remember anything between catching up to me and now?”

“No.” Draco started to shake his head and stopped. “Should I?”

Harry and Ginny traded a look over Draco’s head. Tell him later, was the silent consensus.

“Maybe,” Harry said diplomatically, coming forward to take Ginny’s place holding Draco up. “How about we talk about it when we’re out of here?”

“’Kay.” Draco leaned back against Harry’s arm. “I think I’ll be all right in a second.”

“Good, because you’re going to want to see this,” said Ron, leaning back in from the tunnel. “Harry, I think I’ve found what we were after...”

Ginny got to her feet and ducked around her brother, lighting her wand again as she left the area Harry’s fire was illuminating. This tunnel went uphill, she noticed, and there was no longer water dripping from the ceiling—

She stopped in her tracks and stared.

Yes, I’d say this is just about what we wanted.  

Footsteps sounded behind her, and she moved to one side as Ron came out of the tunnel, followed by Harry and Draco moving in tandem. Harry’s fireball zipped past them and went to hover near the ceiling, brightening as it went.

“Well?” said Ron, waving his hand at the cavern. “You think it’ll do?”

It was half again the size of the Quidditch pitch, Ginny estimated, and ten feet high if it was an inch. The floor was almost flat, showing only some strange ropelike formations underfoot. Small, alcove-like caves lined the walls, a deep hole within the one nearest Ginny echoing with the gurgles of rising and falling water. To their left was another tunnel, probably leading back to the small cave where they’d started out.

“Only one way in or out,” Harry said, guiding Draco to a small boulder a short ways around the curve of the wall and helping him sit down. “Two if you count that tomb place, but I think we should seal that off. Whoever she is in there, she deserves her privacy.”

And we don’t want anybody else getting taken over by a possessing spirit, no matter how friendly it seems, Ginny finished silently.

“Got its own water supply,” said Ron, pointing to the cave Ginny had already noticed. “We can always conjure food, or get the house-elves to bring it in for us.”

“Do the Anti-Apparition wards come down this far?” Draco asked, looking around. “We should ask.”

“We will,” said Harry. “But I’m betting they do. We’ll want to get someone to check it for hostile magic, too, but as long as it comes up clean for that, it’s just about ideal for Sanctuary-building.”

Ron walked out into the center of the cavern, gazing at the walls. “What are the odds of finding a place like this first try?” he said with a grin. “Are we not the most lucky bastards ever?”

His words echoed back and forth among the caves, bouncing into Ginny’s ears in pieces. Find... this... not... luck...

Draco stiffened. “Please tell me I’m not the only one who just heard that,” he said quietly, looking at Harry and Ginny. “And while you’re at it, what was with the mausoleum back there?” He jerked his head towards the tomb-cave.

“I don’t know,” said Harry, watching Ron spin in circles under the illuminating fire. “But I think we should get back upstairs and tell the others we’ve found what looks like a perfect spot.”

Found. Ginny glanced back down the hall towards the cave where the serpent’s daughter lay in state on her tomb. Or were led to.

“Let’s close that up before we go,” she suggested, waving towards the tomb. “Just so no one else decides to go exploring in there.”

“Sounds like a good plan,” said Harry, drawing his wand.

Draco squinted back down the tunnel. “Funny,” he said distantly. “I didn’t get too good a look at her face, but she reminds me of someone...”

Wingardium Leviosa,” Harry interrupted loudly, levitating the boulder on which Draco was sitting. “Whoops, sorry, bad aim, I wanted the one next to you...”

“Oh, like hell you did.” Draco slid off the boulder and pulled out his own wand. “Race you to get it done. Wingardium Leviosa.

“We’ll do the one in the other cave,” said Ginny, beckoning Ron to follow her. “The sooner we’re finished, the sooner we can go.”

And the sooner I can try and forget that we’ll be sharing our Sanctuary with somebody who’s been dead for a very long time.

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Author Notes:

Next time: Hermione writes a letter, another celebration is planned for the beginning of the year, and a terrible secret is revealed... stay tuned!