Hecate was the Greek goddess of magic, witchcraft, journeys, and entranceways. Such goddesses of boundaries are tasked with preventing harmful or destructive spirits from the house. She is also said to hold keys that can unlock gates to other realms, and guided Persephone back from the underworld with her two torches.

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d r a c o

The door swung open on its own, and immediately we were hit by an overwhelming sent of peat and herbs. Not cooking herbs. Potion herbs. Roots and rose petals and cypress and myrrh; a sharp, damp smell that itched its way up our nostrils.

The small room was aglow with candles, throwing a warm orange light upon the thick wood floors, beat-up sofa, and raggedy curtains. A large oak table stood by the side, littered with crystal balls of all sizes. Their tiny, thousand-sided mirrors reflected the light so brightly it hurt my eyes to look.

"Who calls upon the lowly Serena Cheng?" a voice called from inside. We hesitated. "Hannah Abbott," announced Hannah boldly, earning a look of alarm from Susan. There was a pause. 

"Are all four of you named Hannah Abbott?"

A chill ran down my spine. There was absolutely nobody in sight. It could only mean she was watching us from somewhere, or that she knew without seeing.

"Lorcan Atwood." He nudged Susan, who sputtered out her name reluctantly.

"Draco Malfoy," I said.

A head popped into view from around the corner at the far end of the room. She squinted at us for a moment before revealing her whole self. Her long robes were splashed a neon purple, and it seemed to have a life of its own as she sashayed towards us. Despite the wrinkles, she had an elegant face, with delicate skin pulled over prominent features. A rainbow scarf barely covered the explosion of black curls that sprouted from her head.

She stopped right in front of me, and up close, I could see that her eyes were the colour of bright amber. I held my breath as she took my face, turning this way and that. "You look just like your father," she observed, and tapped my cheek twice. I felt my soul darken at that comment.

"Um- Serena Cheng?" Hannah ventured. The woman stretched out her arms. "In the flesh, my love! Now, tell me, what brings four youngin's like yourself here, to poor, old, disgraced Serena?"

"You said you know Draco's father. Lucius Malfoy?" asked Hannah. "Long, stringy hair. Blond. Grey eyes. About yea tall?" she waved a hand above her head.

"Of course!" Serena exclaimed. "Serena never forgets a customer!"

Lorcan handed her the piece of parchment. "We believe you told him of a prophecy. About an uprising. And a... baby?"

She studied the inked words before nodding vigorously. "Oh, happy, Lucius was. So very happy."

"We- we were wondering..." began Lorcan, "if you could tell us everything you know? About the prophecy? And about Lucius?"

"Hmm, yes, yes." Serena walked to the great oak table, hovering her hands over the dozens of crystal balls before selecting one. "Came to Serena in the night, he did. Asked her to tell him his future. 'Why?' she asked him. See, us Seers like to know true intentions before helping. Angry, he said he was. Betrayed and robbed of his future! So Serena said, 'let me fix you up with some Felix Felicis!' But Lucius didn't want that. No he didn't. Wanted his future read, you see."

"That's a lie," I said sharply. "My father was helping Voldemort. That's the 'future' he was robbed of. Not anything else!"

Serena considered for a moment before frowning. "Is that so?"

"Yes."

She held the crystal ball up to her eyes, making her yellow garnets seem three times larger from the other side. "Well, in that case, Serena is so terribly sorry! Serena only wanted to help! So she told his future. Through this ball."

"And this- this prophecy," Lorcan pointed to the parchment, "is what you saw?"

"No, no, not saw," she said. "Hear! The balls speak, you see. They speak to Serena."

"But what does it mean - before a sapling dies, it first has to gain life?" he asked. At that, the witch paused. "Why does a young boy like you want to know?"

"Angel Dawson," I said softly. "My wife, Angel Dawson, is missing. I think my father has taken her by force. He thinks he's the one to take Voldemort's place, and- and that our baby is to stop him."

I had hoped she would shake her wild hair and deny everything. Instead, she gestured for us to sit. There were not enough places, and Lorcan leaned against the back of Susan's chair, bending forward on his elbows indulgently.

"You're right, Little Malfoy," she said. "Old Serena might have been wrong about Voldemort, but she has it right this time!"

"I'm sorry, I still don't quite understand," Susan finally piped up. "Why does baby first has to gain life? Why did Lucius have to kidnap Angel when he could... I don't know, just kill her and the baby on the spot? Sorry," she directed the last word to me.

Serena's fiery eyes seemed to burn a hole through me. "Tell me, Little Malfoy. How did she die?"

I drew back at her sudden question. "What d'you mean? Angel's not dead. Not yet! She can't be!"

"No," she shook her head. "But she died once, didn't she?"

"Sh- she was... she was protecting me," I mumbled. "She shielded me from the Killing Curse."

"Yes... the Killing Curse spares no one, no Muggle or Wizard or creature. And yet, she lived. Why do you think that is, Little Malfoy?"

There was only one possible answer I could think of. The conclusion everyone agreed on because there was simply no other explanation. "She just... I mean... she loved me."

"Soil, she is. Soil marked by love and sacrifice. Love." Serena chuckled and beckoned for us to come closer. "Let Serena tell you a secret. Did you know there is a whole other kind of magic? Unseen before by many Wizarding folk, it is!" she whispered urgently. "It's the power of the mind and the heart. Unknown power, it is, but power immeasurable. If one knows how to use it, it can be stronger than any magic we know. It can also be harvested. Manifested. With a ritual. A blood spell."

"How?" asked Lorcan. Serena leaned back slowly, her bangles clanging against the table as she went. "Are you familiar with the Deathly Hallows, Mr. Atwood?"

"Yeah," he looked at the rest of us. "But I mean, aren't we all? Voldemort was after them. But becoming the Master of Death was impossible. You can't conquer death!"

"Ah, but that's exactly the secret, you see," said Serena. "You can! Little Malfoy's wife did it, she did."

"Angel?" I frowned. "But she didn't have any of the Deathly Hallows. It was all Potter."

"Little Malfoy, you misunderstand me, you do," she wagged a jewelled finger at me. "Your wife. She is the Deathly Hallows. Two of them, she is."

The table was so silent that the crackling of the flames sounded like Exploding Bonbons. They seemed to glow even brighter, their halos of light melting into each other and stinging my eyes.

"Earlier on, you said something about... harvesting the power," Lorcan pressed. "So if I'm extrapolating this correctly, you're saying Angel has become two of the Deathly Hallows. The Resurrection Stone, because she rose from the dead, and the Cloak of Invisibility, because she evaded Death?" 

"Well, not quite the Deathly Hallows, no," said Serena. "She didn't become the stone or the cloak. But the very same power she possesses within her, she does."

Anger stirred in my belly. As usual, Lorcan the Laugh thought he knew it all. But Angel was a half-blood. A human, of tender flesh and brittle bones. The Deathly Hallows were objects, a fabled myth that had been debunked years ago during the Second War. How could she share the same magic as them?

"D'you know how fucking ridiculous you sound, Atwood?" I snapped. "You're saying my father kidnapped my wife because she is the Deathly Hallows?"

Lorcan straightened himself back up. "Don't you see, Draco? It all makes sense now!" he said excitedly. "Because of what Angel did for you, she now has the same power of the stone and the cloak within her. Power immeasurable. And pardon my crudeness, but your baby is a literal product of that. A young sapling, grown from soil marked by love and sacrifice. With the baby, Lucius wouldn't even need the stone or the cloak! And the prophecy says it needs to breathe a breath of life. He needs the baby alive to leverage that magic. That's why he's kidnaped Angel! And Serena said something about harvesting that power through a ritual. By deduction, there's a likely chance that's what your old man is up to!"

I stared at him, the words threatening to slip out of my mental grasp. Susan spoke for me, a question I did not even know I had. "Okay, but why can't he use Angel's blood? Why must it be the baby's?" 

"The magic can only come into being with love between two people," Serena explained, holding up both her pointer fingers. "It cannot exist with just one. Little Malfoy, and Little Malfoy's wife." She brought her fingers together. "One plus one makes one." 

"Draco, do you understand?" Lorcan's tone ominous. "Your baby's blood will provide Lucius the power of the Stone and the Cloak. All he needs is..." he turned to Serena, "the Elderwand."

"He doesn't even need the wand, he doesn't," she added gravely. "The baby is enough."

"We have to warn somebody!" cried Susan, leaping from her chair. "There has to be someone from the Ministry we can tell! What about Hermione?"

"No, Suzie," Lorcan cut in quickly. "We don't know who we can trust. Madam Faulkner was completely anti-Voldemort before, but look at what's happened now. We can't tell anyone yet, not even Hermione or Harry."

I struggled to breathe as panic rose in my chest. "I'm not about to let my wife die in the filthy hands of my father, Atwood!" Hannah's chair scraped on the floor as she stood as well. "Malfoy's right for once. We can't just let Angel die!"

We all began to speak at the same time, our arguments overlapping each other in a cacophony of voices.

"But we don't even know where he is-"

"I swear the Malfoy family is a fucking plague - "

"We have to fight -"

"But what if he has an army-"

"- if Bones here wasn't so scared of her own bloody shadow - "

"It's all your fault-"

"My fault? She told me to leave! I would've-"

"ALRIGHT, EVERYBODY CALM THE FUCK DOWN!" Lorcan hollered above the din, his arms held out for peace. "For fuck's sake, no one's dying, alright? If we're going to get Angel, we need to work together. The sooner we save her, the sooner we can go back to our normal lives. Can everyone agree to just tolerate each other, at least until this is over?

Hannah and I stewed in angry silence, and Susan stared at the floor in shame.

"Yes or no?"

"Yes," we replied, shuffling our feet sheepishly.

"Great. Fan-fucking-tastic," he said flatly. "Serena, we need to go to Malfoy Manor. Do you know where it is?"

It was only then I remembered Serena was even there. The witch was still seated at the table, her chin resting on interlocked fingers as she watched us in great amusement. "Oh, Serena does, Mr. Atwood. She does, indeed."

She got up and turned to the cupboards behind her. From them, she retrieved ingredients, moving as she spoke. "Mr. Malfoy is having a soirée, he is. One night from now, at the Manor, for all the Death Eaters. He was very pleased with the prophecy, he was. So pleased that he's invited poor, old Serena. She was thinking of not going, no. But now, perhaps she shall go after all!"

"Just walk into a house full of Death Eaters!" cried Susan in alarm. "We'd be killed in an instant!"

"No, no, not walk!" Serena spun around to face us, roots and flower buds clenched in her fists. "The Faciem Obscuro potion! Changes how others perceive your face, it does!"

Hannah placed her hands on her hips. "What kind of hack Polyjuice potion is that?"

"The kind they don't teach you up at that big castle, they don't!" Serena winked. "Now, off you go. Come back before sunset tomorrow, and it'll be ready, it will."

It was already light outside when we left. The sun had spilled fully over the horizon, and was halfway up the sky now. My mind was still reeling as I mounted my Thestral.

"Get your things and come back to mine tonight," instructed Lorcan. The Thestrals beat their wings, and we lifted back into the sky once more.

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s u s a n

We camped in Lorcan's house that night. He had graciously let me take his bed while the rest slept on blankets on the floor. He was nearest to me. Beside him, I could make out the rise and fall of Hannah's sides, and at the other corner of the room, far away from us, Draco snored gently.

I could not sleep. All I could think about was what we were about to do.

"Go to sleep, Suzie..." A sleepy voice rumbled from below. I turned to my side. "Lorcan, are you awake?"

"No, I'm actually talking to you in my sleep," he replied.

"I... I can't sleep."

He propped himself up, his mess of brown curls glossy in the moonlight. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I'm just... I don't know."

"Suzie, there's nothing to worry about, honestly," he assured me. "You fought at Hogwarts, didn't you? Part of Dumbledore's Army and all that."

"Yeah, but it doesn't mean I want to do it again!"

"Angel's our friend."

"I know, I know." I sighed and rolled back, concentrating on the ceiling. "I love her so much and I want to save her... but I just don't have a good feeling about this."

"You've got Hannah and Draco to protect you. You've got me."

"No, Lorcan, I don't mean tomorrow. I mean about everything. Lucius isn't going to give up just because we took Angel back. He'll come for her. There's going to be another war."

"I know," he said.

I gripped the sheets tightly. "At Serena's. You said once we save Angel, we can all go back to our normal lives. That's not true."

"I know."

"That's what I'm afraid of."

He thought for a moment. "Well, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it," he said finally and lay back down. I chewed my lip, listening to him adjusting the covers, before silence. I let out a slow exhale.

Suddenly, a warm hand found mine by the side of the bed. It slipped between my fingers, wedging my grip away from the sheets.

I inclined my head to look at my hand, now enveloped snugly in Lorcan's. I could not see the rest of him from where I lay, but his thumb moved, caressing the space between my thumb and pointer.

Honestly, I thought I would be more terrified than I was. Instead, there was a strange, bubbling sense of excitement. Not because I was looking forward to it, but because I felt... braver.

After our successful little heist at the Ministry, I began to think that perhaps things were not always going to turn out as bad as I would have thought after all. Especially with Lorcan around.

He always knew what to do, what to say. He was so full of charisma and life people automatically felt compelled to let him have his way. His cheeky, shit-eating grin irritated me. Yet, I could not help but smile at the thought of it.

I fell asleep to the steady movement of Lorcan's touch.