"An Ally"

She thought that she'd be able to sleep at Hogwarts. Next to Myrna, wrapped in Rhiannon's arms, Circi felt every ounce of comfort they were trying to give her but lay staring up at her canopy all night. If she let her mind stray too far she could see the corpse of Professor Burbage floating above her or feel the body of Voldemort's snake brushing up against her. She took to counting, starting from one hundred and counting down before counting up when she reached zero.

At some point she did fall asleep, for she was waking up to Rhiannon rolling off the bed with a thud claiming 'I didn't want to wake you.' The first few weeks passed slowly. Every corner she turned someone was watching her.

Students who knew nothing about her except that she was a Malfoy sneered at her, grimacing and whispering among their friends as she walked past. A group of second years jeered at her as she walked the corridors, calling her names and tailing her until Professor McGonagall turned a corner and gave them all detentions.

It seemed that McGonagall was watching her closely. Even if the woman herself was not present, Circi always noticed the tail of her cat animagus turning a corner or hanging off a window ledge.

Students in her own year and above treated her carefully now. Or simply paying attention to her. She had never been the centre of attention before but everyone knew what Draco had done, what Snape had done, and they all knew she had disappeared last year because of them. Those who had heard the rumours about how she had looked on the train looked at her as though she may break, some of her classmates even offered to carry her bag for her.

But, the eyes she dreaded the most between classes was that of the Carrows. They had taken the empty positions teaching Muggle Studies and Defence Against the Dark Arts and, unfortunately for Circi, she could not escape Amycus Carrow and his Dark Arts lessons. Whenever she passed the Muggle Studies classroom, Alecto Carrow would watch her through the open door with those deep-set eyes accentuated by the orange of her sleek hair.

She often met with Leslie on the way to this dreaded class but he had been otherwise preoccupied in his free period- or, at least she hoped- and was left to enter the classroom alone. Forcing herself to breath evenly, she took a seat beside Myrna on the middle row,

Carrow was generous in handing out detentions and notorious for forcing the older students to perform the cruciatus curse on the unfortunate targets.

As the clock ticked towards the hour, the class held their breath. They weren't all present and anyone who entered the room anytime after the class began was either the subject to whatever hex they were practising today or, worse, given detention. Watching the clock at the front of the room, Circi ignored Amycus Carrow's long face looking at her and followed the seconds hand ticking around.

Footsteps shuffled into the room and everyone turned to watch as Leslie and Rhiannon rushed through the door with heavy breaths and stole into two seats at the back of the room. But, Circi realised, the Gryffindors in the room were still watching the door.

Carrow looked back at the clock, watching it strike the hour, and approached the door as the clock in the distance chimed the hour. Holding the door as the second chime struck, he paused.

"Crane." His voice was slow, calculating, relishing the taste of her name. When Circi turned around her blood ran cold. He had to tilt his head down to look Mica in the eye and glanced back at Circi for a fleeting second. She knew, immediately, what he had in mind. It was the same sick and twisted joke they would play back at the manor but, here, she was vulnerable. They had noted those she cared for immediately and made them targets.

In the first week, Leslie had been the test subject of the bat-bogey hex for saying hello to her. After that, Carrow had picked at Myrna and Rhiannon until he had stunted their pride too much for them to stay silent.

They barely spoke for days after their detention.

And now- Mica.

Circi had purposefully avoided her. She had been relieved to find they shared no classes so far, especially the classes taught by the Carrows, yet somehow they had found a way. They had sussed her all the way to Mica and this fear was like none she had ever felt before. Her heart pounded as Carrow gave her a detention and ordered her to a seat, there was water in her ears as she stared at Mica.

And Mica? She tried to smile and waved across the room before turning back to the class.

The hour couldn't have been any slower. Circi had tried her hardest not to fall asleep as Carrow preached to them about the Dark Arts and complained about Snape's policy on teaching them curses. At the mention of the curses Circi had felt Myrna freeze in her seat and squeezed her hand under the table.

Finally, when the class was finished, and the students were piling out of the room, Circi tore away from her friends.

Rhiannon yelled after her but kept to her own pace alongside Leslie and Myrna. As the slytherin students mulled over their timetables, Mica rushed for the astronomy tower. She had suffered from a growth spurt at the Manor despite being tall already and, now, she'd never been more grateful for her long legs as they carried her through the corridors and away from everyone.

The stone floor was far too noisy under her feet, her footsteps echoing in her head as the voices of the students in the corridors bounced off the walls. A headache began pounding at her head and she tried to shake it off as she ascended the staircase towards the astronomy tower.

"Circ!" She would recognise Mica's voice anywhere.

As tears clouded her vision, she sucked in her breath and took the stairs two at a time and slammed through the door to the astronomy tower.

It was silent. The daytime classroom was unlit, unprepared for class, and the office door at the back of the room was shut. Passing between a row of desks, Circi circled the frame of a black-grate spiral staircase and climbed up to the observatory.

She finally allowed herself to stop and braced herself against her knees. Staring at the grate beneath her feet, she counted her breaths and winced at the stitch in her chest after the running. One, two, three... Glancing around her, she looked past the telescope to the observation deck. From here any other student would notice the view of the grounds of Hogwarts, how the clouds were particularly grey today but Hogsmeade was golden in the distance, but Circi stared at the railing from which Dumbledore had fallen from months ago.

Her stomach churned and she held onto the bannister as she sat on the top step.

The door to the daytime classroom finally opened and Mica ran in. Between the grates, Circi watched the girl look around the room with sad eyes before looking up and catching her gaze almost immediately.

In seconds, Mica was in front of her and sitting on a lower step. She took Circi's hands in her own and pressed a kiss to her knuckles.

Warmth blossomed through her hands at the touch and Circi gasped out a sob.

"You can't go to detention." Circi looked down at Mica, she looked so much smaller beneath her. "They'll torture you." Mica said nothing. She could've said something to reassure Circi but there was nothing she could say that would bring her any comfort. Instead, she held their hands tighter and leaned against Circi's legs. "It's my fault," Circi said quietly, looking down at their interlocked fingers and feeling her fear bubble up again.

"No," Mica's voice was quiet.

"Yes," she nodded, "they're punishing father."

Freeing one hand, Mica readjusts Circi's skirt around her knees and presses yet another kiss to her hands. "I'll survive."

"Girls," they looked down the stairs at the Professor who was watching them curiously. Circi could feel her relief release the weight on her chest when she found Dexter looking up at them. She'd almost forgotten this was his classroom. "Don't you have somewhere to be?"

Mica turned around, revealing Circi fully to him, and his chest heaved as he took a deep breath.

"Circi?" The night after the students returned, Dexter woke and felt he had imagined it all. Snape, the Carrows, Circi's weak body drifting around the Great Hall... Sure, the Carrows and Snape proved to be real enough the second he left his room. But, the harder he looked for Circi the more he convinced himself he was imagining things. Even when he spotted her at dinner she simply wasn't Circi. And, yet, here she was. A vision of Madame Pomfrey's description. "Merlin..."

He invited them into his office, shutting the door firmly to avoid any unwanted eavesdropping, and immediately scooped Circi into a tight hug. She wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed her face against his chest, inhaling the scent of the Rier Estate.

Tea and biscuits were served as they all took a seat around his desk. He questioned her about where she went, how they treated her and why she hadn't elected his class for her O.W.Ls.

He'd asked the last question as a joke, but regretted it the second she deflected the first two and answered that one immediately. Scowling, he leaned forward.

"You know you can tell me anything, Circi."

"Thank you," she pursed her lips in a smile and sipped her tea. In truth, she trusted Professor McGonagall before him but she let him have this comfort. "I'm just worried about taking anymore transfiguration and charms classes without my wand."

"Well..." Mica dragged out the word as she reached into her bag, "you can have your wand..." Revealing the two pieces of Circi's wand, she bares her teeth apologetically and places the broken pieces on the desk. Gingerly, Circi picked up the half which twisted into a bridge at the end and gripped it tightly.

She'd always loved how the wand had been manufactured with a makeshift handle. As a child she loved holding her father's wand, feeling how the chin of the snake hooked over her hand and stabilised the wand. Her own sat naturally in her hand, the bridge at the end resembling the lever of a grinder and the dark wood twisting into a point at the tip. Now, the two pieces sat broken in front of her and she cradled the handle in her lap. Just my luck...

"A clean break," Dexter noted, inspecting the head of the wand and tapping the tip. He smiled at them as he put it back onto the table. "I know someone who can mend this," he nodded to the piece in Circi's lap, "if you'd let me?"

Nodding eagerly, she handed back the wand. That small moment with the broken wand had restored some life to her. She had felt the power in the wood and desired to hold it again.

As Dexter carefully wrapped the wand in parchment and marked it with a note, Circi squeezed the teacup and glanced over at Mica. The Gryffindor smiled back, all teeth and no eyes, and she was dragged back to the terrifying reality.

"Professor," she blurted out, "Dexter- uh, Professor Dexter?" Dexter chuckled as he shook his head and nodded for her to continue. "Mica has detention later. With Amycus... is there anything you can do?"

He hummed for a moment, absentmindedly nodding and playing with the parchment in front of him. Then, he glanced down at the wand and smiled.

"I believe I have a few tasks that will require assistance." He looked over at Mica with a mischievous grin- as if he'd been waiting to undermine the Carrows, "and I believe your detention will be best served with me, Miss Crane."