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ELEVEN ASCENDING, ASCENDING

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       JANUARY ARRIVES with the same dull fashion that December ended on; one minute, Holly was sitting around a kitchen table with her mother and step-dad, trying her hardest to avoid all conversations with her mother, whenever possible, and the next, she had looked up at the clock, and there it was. The new year. 1997. Three more years until the world ends — at least, that's what some kookie lady from Florida told her in the airport a couple years ago.

       And then January goes, nothing happening. The only thing of interest is Harry's next lesson with Dumbledore, which had been at the start of the month — and after that, there was nothing. She doesn't think anything could top the fact that Voldemort himself asked Slughorn, many years ago, what Horcruxes were, but still. Her cousin didn't even stir any trouble.

       That was another thing. Draco was yet to mention their argument — or rather, Holly's pleading to be in the know — to her, but he still talked to her. Every time he did, she'd feel strange about it, and she wouldn't be able to pretend nothing was wrong because something was and he was never around long enough for her to say, 'hey, what the fuck have you been up to, you piece of shit?'

       Holly doubts he'll ever tell her. She knows her cousin can be stubborn, and considering she was sobbing hysterically the last time she asked him to tell her what's going on, and he still refused, she doubts she'll ever get it out of her. Unless she saves his life, or vice versa, but that'll never happen. They're not the ones that get into trouble around here, that's Harry, Ron, and Hermione... Well, Harry and whoever's with him that day, since Ron and Hermione still aren't speaking.

       But, the months progress and the weather finally becomes a lot less cold and gloomy. It's still gloomy, but there's some warmth in the air, which is enough to lift Holly's spirits. Sometimes it's painfully obvious how much of a summer baby she is, how much she loves the idea of the sun shining down on her. But thanks to the escaped Dementors, the sky has been alternating shades of grey; now, it's a light grey, almost white. It's better than the darker grey that took over the sky around Christmas.

       "Well, good luck," says Holly to Harlow, the two of them standing around in the common room during lunch. Most of the year's taking their Apparation exam this afternoon, but, since Holly was born late August and still isn't seventeen, she isn't allowed to take the test yet. So here she is, smiling and wishing her friends well. "Soon you'll be able to be my chauffer."

       "You know, that's actually my motivation for passing," says Harlow, going along with it. Both of them grin at each other. "Do you have a lesson when we're doing the exam?"

       Holly nods. "Potions."

       "You may as well skip," says Harlow.

       "I want to," she says.

       Harlow frowns. "There's a 'but' coming."

       "There is," says Holly, and she sighs. "But, Harry will be there on his own and obviously he can't skip and spend the hour here with me, because, you know, he will be murdered on the spot, and I really don't want to spend another hour in Gryffindor tower — like, it's nice there, but it isn't my common room, you know? It doesn't have the same charm as the dungeons do."

       "I get that," says Harlow. "There's something special in the mermaids that look in, wanting to spear us with giant forks."

       "Exactly," she says, and she smiles up at him, as Daphne and Millicent make their way out of the common room to wherever they're all taking the exam. "Good luck, sport. You'll do great."

        Harlow grins back at her, and crosses his fingers, before catching up to Theo and Blaise. Holly watches the rest of her house start to leave the common room, grabbing handfuls of chocolate to substitute sandwiches from the Great Hall, and making their way to their separate lessons. She crosses her arms, looking around. It's not like they're going to do anything in Potions anyway, and Harry won't be too mad if she skips and stays here...

       "You coming?"

       Holly looks up. Draco frowns at her. 

       "What?"

       "Are you going to Potions?" asks Draco.

       "I was thinking of skipping," she says. "Are you?"

       "I've already had enough detentions this year," says Draco, shrugging. Holly's brows furrow, and she's about to tell him, we need to talk about what happened at Christmas, but he beats her to it, a grumpy expression on his face. "I can't tell you everything that's happening, all right? But I can explain part of it... Come on, Slughorn will get all arsey if I'm late again."

       "I feel as if this is a way of having someone to sit with in Potions," says Holly, looking at him accusingly. "Considering Crabbe and Goyle are in the exam."

       "Or maybe, I want to tell you," says Draco.

       "But you don't want to tell me all of it," she points out.

       "Because you would hate me," says Draco, and then he glares at her. She feels like he's contradicting himself, but she doesn't say anything. Some information's better than none. "Let's go."

       Holly frowns at him, as the two of them leave the Slytherin common room. Once they step outside into the corridor, the common room's completely empty, a vast difference to the mountains of students in there ten minutes ago.

       "I'm still sitting with Harry," she says, matter-of-factly.

       "Well it's a good thing I can read your mind, then, isn't it?" he mutters.

       All right, she says. Don't get your knickers in a twist.

       Fuck off, he says.

       This better not be a way of distracting me, she says. Tell me the secret!

       Holly gives him a look, just as they enter the Potions classroom. She leaves Draco and sits down at the table Harry's already at. Slughorn's yet to arrive; he's probably busy leeching something out of an old student, she thinks to herself.

       "You've been invited to a funeral," he says.

       Holly blinks. "Good morning to you too?"

       "No, uh—" Harry stops himself, as Slughorn walks into the classroom. "I'll tell you later on, yeah?"

       "All too young to Apparate just yet?" says Slughorn. "Not turn seventeen yet?"

       "Obviously," she mutters under her breath, loud enough for Harry to overhear and smile at her. She smiles back, turning around to look at Slughorn, who has a kind smile going from ear to ear.

      "Ah, well," says Slughorn. "As we're so few, we'll do something fun." Oh, wow! "I want you all to brew me up something amusing!"

       Holly narrows her eyes in confusion. What does that mean?

      "What do you mean, 'something amusing?'" says Draco, sounding irritated. Holly understands why. She doesn't get how they can randomly think of an 'amusing' potion.

       "Oh, surprise me!" says Slughorn.

       Holly frowns, opening her textbook, trying to find something amusing. She finds a potion that briefly awakens the dead, and she shows it to Harry, dryly saying, "That'll be amusing." Harry gives her a look. Her humour's wasted.

       Eventually she decides upon Amortentia, because, like she tells Slughorn when he asks what potions they're all doing, with the sweetest smile on her face, "I find it rather amusing when people accidentally reveal their secrets." (This makes Harry burst into laughter for a good ten minutes... Maybe her humour is not wasted after all.)

       Right, says Draco, as Holly starts cutting up her ingredients. She glances over her shoulder at her cousin, who frowns at her, as if to say, maybe don't look at me when I start saying this? So she turns back around, smiling weakly at Harry, who looks suspicious... He's always suspicious nowadays, when it comes to her cousin. Even if he hides it from her, she's still aware of it.

       I've been given the task of fixing something, says Draco. I can't tell you what, and I can't tell you why, but there's something in the Room of Requirement that I need to fix, so something else can happen... And the 'something else' is the important part of the task, but I can't tell you that... But I suppose you know who's set the task.

       She pauses her cutting. Voldemort?

       You can't tell anyone, says Draco.

       Of course I won't, says Holly.

      Not even your boyfriend, says Draco.

       I won't, she replies.

       Because if people find out, he'll kill me, says Draco. Her stomach ties into knots. And he'll kill our entire family... And no doubt he'll find out about your dad — I'm not saying that to threaten you, Holly, I'm saying it as a fact. If he kills us, he'll hunt your parents down, and he'll kill them like he'll kill mine. I can't—I can't let that happen.

       Holly glances up, finding her boyfriend watching her worriedly. For the past couple minutes she had stopped prepping her potion, focused solely on what her cousin was telepathically telling her. That was all that was important to her, in those minutes, no 'amusing' potion could ever overpower the idea of her family being killed, because of some task her cousin has to do.

       "Oh, you know how Ron was poisoned—?"

       Holly's eyes widen. "What?"

       "Oh — you were at Quidditch practice, I forgot," says Harry. She continues to look at him in shock, her jaw sitting on the table. "He ate some chocolates with some love potion in — apparently they were for me..." Holly's face looks a lot less shocked and a lot more pissed off, and she nods slowly. "So I brought him here so Slughorn could cure him, but then Slughorn offered us some mead, and when Ron drank some we realised it was poisoned."

       "Is he OK now...?" says Holly, looking bewildered.

       Harry nods. "But, you'll be happy to know he's trying to get rid of Lavender."

       "OK," says Holly, pulling a face. She starts stirring her potion. "You know, she's probably a really sweet girl, it was just that whole relationship was full-on from the start. She was always nice to us... OK, well, she did gossip a lot about Hermione but I used to do the same with Pansy... We haven't spoken since December but if we were friends still, we'd probably be doing the same..." She frowns at her cauldron.

       The lesson soon comes to an end, concluding with Slughorn examining the four potions, and only being impressed by Harry. Surprise, surprise. He did, however, give Holly a little more recognition than normal, but that was because halfway through the lesson, Holly scribbled the Half-Blood Prince's notes on love potions into her textbook, muttering to Harry, "If I know this is the better recipe, why wouldn't I use it?"

       Holly's packing her things away when Harry desperately attempts to get Slughorn, in hopes he'll taste his euphoria potion and magically open up about Horcruxes. She puts her bag over her shoulder as Harry returns to the table, looking defeated.

       "You're pathetic sometimes," says Holly, with a little smirk on her face. "I hope you know that."

       "Love you too," he grumbles, as the two of them walk out of the classroom, done with their lessons for the day. Holly has to go down to the Quidditch pitches in a while, to practice with her team, but since she has an hour or two before that, she walks with Harry to the courtyard. "So, if you're the cunning one — how do I get this memory from Slughorn?"

       Holly sits on one of the benches, looking around as she thinks. "You could just ask him," she says. Harry looks at her like she's mad, and she frowns. "Well, I don't think he'd say no if you explained the situation... It's important you know about Horcruxes — and you know what Voldemort knows — so surely he'd tell you if he knew that...?"

       "Well... You have a point..."

       "I know," she says with a grin.

       "Ron and Hermione suggested using Felix Felicis," says Harry, and Holly nods in agreement. "So, what? Should I take that, find Slughorn, and tell him the truth?"

       Holly nods. "It could work."

       "Could?" says Harry.

       "You won't know unless you try it," says Holly, giving him a look. She sees a group of girls in their year walk past, hearts forming in their eyes as they look at Harry. Her brows furrow. "Who sent the chocolates then?"

       "What?" he says.

       "The chocolate," she replies, stirring her potion a little more aggressively than intended. "Who... Who sent it? To you?"

       "Erm, Romilda Vane—"

       "Interesting," says Holly. "Who's that?"

       "Uh, someone in Gryffindor," says Harry.

       Holly nods, looking away as she muses, "It's always the Gryffindors..." Harry clears his throat, and she looks at him. She smiles sweetly. "I'm fine. Just curious... And, anyway, it's not like tons of students already look at you all googly-eyed."

       "Uh, yeah..."

       "I'm fine with it," says Holly. "Really. I am."

       Harry gives her a look. "Are you?"

       "Uh-huh," says Holly. "Totally cool with it... And it's not like it's surprising, anyway. You're good-looking, you always have been, it's just that everyone else was too busy hating you for some reason or another—"

       "I—Thanks?" says Harry, looking at her oddly. She looks around the courtyard, the spring breeze making her hair fall over her shoulders, resting on her back. Holly glances back at her boyfriend, who grins at her. "I didn't think you'd get jealous."

       She raises her eyebrows. "I am not jealous."

       "What was that then?" says Harry, smirking at her. He leans closer to her, sitting sideways on the bench, and she scowls back at him.

       Holly narrows her eyes. "It was nothing."

       "I think it was jealousy," says Harry.

       Holly shakes her head. "I don't."

       Harry looks behind her, a cheeky grin still on his face. "Oh, would you look at that, more people staring at me—"

       And then he's cut off by Holly, who pulls his face towards hers, kissing him.

        She pulls back, looking at Harry, who's surprised and out-of-breath. Holly smiles innocently. "So I'm a little jealous," she says. "You'd find it annoying if people were following me around like that, wouldn't you?"

       "Yeah, all right," he says, and he grins at her again. "I still think it's cute."

       "I don't think I've ever heard you say 'cute,'" says Holly, raising an eyebrow.

       Harry shrugs. "Well, you are."

       "You are adorable," she replies, smiling brightly back at him, feeling like all the stars are shining down on her. He sits a little closer to her and kisses her again, only with less force than the first time, and she thinks to herself, this boy.

✧

       HOLLY'S HAIR SITS IN A PLAIT resting on her back, a dark-green ribbon securing the whole braid. Quidditch practice finished a couple minutes late, so she walks back up to school. Since the start of the school year she's told the rest of her team to wear whatever they want during the practices, as long as they're suitable for Quidditch; and because of this, she's walking back up to school wearing the sort of workout leggings that muggles wear, along with her Slytherin jersey, her surname printed onto the back.

       "Holly!" she hears Harry say, as she finally reaches school. She smiles at him, about to greet him, but before she can he pulls her into a hug, holding her tightly. "You're so smart. And pretty. And brilliant. I love you."

       "Are you drunk?" she says, tilting her head in confusion.

       "No! I took Felix Felicis!" says Harry. He smiles at her weirdly, and he continues to hold her in an embrace, as he says, "I'm going to Hagrid's. Come with me!"

       "Aren't you supposed to be speaking to Slughorn?" she says.

       "I've got a good feeling about going to Hagrid's," says Harry. "I feel like it's the place to be tonight, you know what I mean?"

       Holly looks at him, bewildered.

       "Let's go and find Slughorn, yeah?" she says calmly, trying her hardest to hide how weirded out she is. Harry's smiling at her oddly, and it's taking a lot of effort for her to remember he isn't drunk, not even tipsy. He sure is acting like it. "C'mon, Harry, he might be in the dungeons, I bet if you're using this good-luck stuff you won't get beaten up by Slytherin when you walk past our part..."

       "There he is!" says Harry.

       Holly watches Harry in complete astonishment as he walks up to Slughorn, with a dreamy smile on his face. Slowly she follows, feeling like she probably shouldn't leave him alone when he can't do anything without acting like a complete prat.

       "Merlin's beard, Harry, you made me jump," says Slughorn, looking at Harry warily. He spots Holly walking up to them. "Hello, Holly... How did you get out of the castle?"

       "I think Filch must've forgotten to lock the doors," says Harry, just as Holly unenthusiastically gestures to her Quidditch jersey.

       "I'll be reporting that man, he's more concerned about litter than proper security if you ask me," says Slughorn. "But why are you out here, Harry?"

       "Well, sir, it's Hagrid," says Harry, nodding gravely. Holly raises an eyebrow at him, thinking, thank God only I can see this bullshit? Draco would be wetting himself if he saw this disaster. "He's pretty upset... But you won't tell anyone, Professor? I don't want trouble for him..."

       "I can't promise that," says Slughorn. "But I know that Dumbledore trusts Hagrid to the hilt, so I'm sure he can't be up to anything very dreadful..."

       "It's this giant spider, he's had it for years... It lived in the forest... It could talk and everything—"

       "I heard rumours there were acromantulas in the forest," says Slughorn, his brows furrowing with intrigue. He glances at Holly, who's crossed her arms, looking around awkwardly. She feels as if Slughorn judging her for Harry's behaviour. "It's true, then?"

       "Yes," says Harry. "But this one, Aragog, the first one Hagrid ever got, it died last night. He's devastated. He wants company while he buries it and I said I'd go... And he also invited Holly, because they're friends even if she doesn't know it." Holly glares at the back of Harry's head, as Slughorn looks away, his mind on something else.

       "But acromantula venom is very valuable... If the beast only just died it might not yet have dried out... Of course, I wouldn't want to do anything insensitive if Hagrid is upset... but if there was any way to procure some... I mean, it's almost impossible to get venom from an acromantula while it's alive... seems an awful waste not to collect it... might get a hundred Galleons a pint... To be frank, my salary is not large..."

       Harry still looks dazed, so Holly pipes in. "You know, Hagrid would be really touched to know that you wanted to be there for him," she tells him, stepping next to Harry, who nods furiously. She smiles politely. "And I bet if he knew you cared about him and his loss, he'd be sure to let you take some of the venom..."

       "Yes, of course," says Slughorn, an enthusiastic look on his face. Holly smiles still, feeling triumphant. "I tell you what, I'll meet you down there with a bottle or two... We'll drink the poor beast's — well, not health — but we'll send it off in style, anyway, once it's buried." The mention of drinking makes Holly feel nervous. She doesn't like drunks. "And I'll change my tie, this one is a little exuberant for the occasion..."

       Holly watches him walk away, and frowns. "Hagrid won't mind if I'm not dressed for a funeral, will he?" she says to Harry.

       "He'll be fine," says Harry. "C'mon!"

       He takes hold of Holly's hand and leads her towards Hagrid's hut, a sweet little home near the Forbidden Forest. Halfway down she summons the unopened box of chocolates from the common room, spending the remainder of the walk swatting Harry's hand away from the contents of the box, and muttering, "Your best friend isn't dead, you don't get chocolate."

       Harry knocks on the door to Hagrid's hut, and Holly awkwardly stands a couple spaces back as she waits for the door to open. After a minute Hagrid arrives, teary-eyed but smiling weakly at the two.

       "You came," he says.

       "Yeah — Ron and Hermione couldn't, though," says Harry. "They're really sorry."

       "Don' — don' matter..." says Hagrid, and quietly Holly gives him the box of chocolates with a sympathetic smile. "He'd've been touched you're here, though..."

       Hagrid begins to cry, and Holly looks at Harry, as if to say, well, comfort him! She doesn't think she knows him well enough to even attempt to comfort him. Trying to comfort April's friend was torture enough, she doesn't want to go through that, not for a long time.

       Harry awkwardly pats Hagrid on the elbow, in an attempt to comfort him. He mentions the fact that Slughorn's coming, too, but conveniently keeps out the part about him only interested because of the wealth of an acromantula's venom. But, Hagrid nods, and explains that they're burying the body next to pumpkin patch. "I've already dug the — you know — grave," he tells them. "Just thought we'd say a few nice things over him — happy memories, you know—" And then he begins to cry.

       Holly's gaze meets with Harry, who looks completely clueless in regards to the crying half-giant. She gives him a look, mouthing, "You owe me," and she awkwardly pats Hagrid's forearm, saying comfortingly, "It's good to cry it out... But, erm, my dad always used to say that, uh, everyone dies and the important thing isn't that, it's the memories you make when you're alive..." She looks at Harry, and glares at him. "I am talking about my dad's dead best friend for you, you idiot," she mouths. He doesn't catch any of it, but the point still stands.

       Slughorn arrives after a couple minutes, arriving to the hut holding a few bottles, the wine and mead inside making a sloshing noise as he walks.

       "Hagrid," says Slughorn. "Sad night, sad night... Where is the poor creature?"

       "Out here," says Hagrid, his voice quivering. Holly grimaces. She doesn't like funerals, they make her feel sick... She doesn't like death in general. She'll probably vomit right before she leaves to step into the afterlife, simply because she'll get freaked out. "Shall we — shall we do it, then?"

       The four of them walk outside, past the pumpkin patch. Baby hairs lining Holly's face move slightly in the cold breeze, and she frowns at the acromantula's corpse, lying on the ground.

       "Magnificent," says Slughorn.

       "Not everyone appreciates how beautiful they are," says Hagrid, bursting into tears again. Holly eyes the dead acromantula, half expecting it to jump back to life and attack them... She doesn't like spiders, either. "I didn't know you were interested in creatures like Aragog, Horace."

       "Interested? My dear Hagrid, I revere them," says Slughorn, swiftly hiding the bottle in his robe pocket. Holly and Harry exchange a frown, both noticing Slughorn taking some of Aragog's venom whilst Hagrid was busy crying. "Now... shall we proceed to the burial?"

       Hagrid heaves Aragog's body into the pit dug out for him, before he starts to cry again.

       "Of course, it's difficult for you, who knew him best..." says Slughorn, patting Hagrid's elbow in a less sympathetic fashion to Holly and Harry. "What about one of us says a few words?"

       Hagrid wipes some of his tears, but the next set stream onto his wrist. He nods in agreement, mumbling something about how that would be a good idea, and for a minute Slughorn looks at Harry, which makes sense, considering Harry's closest to Hagrid. But, Harry probably isn't the best person to say something, so Holly winces, remembering something her dad once told her, and she forces herself to speak.

       "I was once told that it's strange, how death sneaks up on us, how one minute we're OK and the next, we're gone forever... But that this shouldn't be scary, because we all know that it's going to happen one day. Everyone dies at the end — and because of this, we should cherish our lives, so that when we do pass away, we have a legacy that breathes for us... So, whilst Aragog is tragically gone, and will spend eternity here, next to the home of a dear friend, his legacy may live on forever, through his descendants, and the memories he left in the hearts of his human friends." I am talking straight out of my ass. "Farewell, Aragog, and may you have a peaceful afterlife."

       There's silence for a moment, before Hagrid wails, "That was beautiful!"

       "There, there," says Slughorn, patting him gently, whilst he waves his wand, covering Aragog's body with soil. "Let's get inside and have a drink..."

       It dawns on Holly how stupidly genius this idea of Harry's actually is. Hopefully if Slughorn's had a couple drinks he'll be a lot easier to persuade him into revealing what he told Voldemort about Horcruxes. She doesn't think that Harry actually thought about this, but she's happy that this weird excursion of his has turned to be useful.

       "I have had it all tested for poison," says Slughorn, as he opens one of the bottles. Holly sits down at the table next to Harry, shaking her head to signal she doesn't want any of it. "Had a house-elf taste every bottle after what happened to your poor friend Rupert." Holly, without thinking, raises her eyebrows distastefully. Wow.

       "To Aragog."

       "Aragog."

       Holly's hand sit in her lap. It sounds silly to her, the fact that she's wary of drinking because she doesn't like the idea of being drunk. She remembers how her dad used to be, and that's enough for her to put off completely. Plus, the idea of drinking with two of her teachers doesn't exactly sound appealing to her.

       Slughorn comments on the unicorn hair hanging from the ceiling, which glimmers prettily in the light. She sees her Potions teacher's gaze move around the room, intrigued with all of the other things that cost a fortune. Her brows furrow. She doesn't think she likes him.

       The night begins to die down, and at one point, whilst Slughorn's in mid-song (fucking kill her already) Hagrid falls fast asleep, his head on the table. Holly looks at Harry warily, desperately hoping he'll get this memory sooner rather than later. This isn't how she wanted to spend her evening, stuck with two teachers off their heads.

       "I don't — don't suppose you remember it, Harry?" says Slughorn, referring to when Harry's parents died. Holly has an incredulous look on her face. You can tell he's drunk, with that sort of confidence.

       "No — well, I was only one when they died," says Harry. "But I've found out pretty much what happened since..." Holly grimaces. "My dad died first. Did you know that?"

       Holly doesn't think she wants to.

       "I—I didn't," says Slughorn.

       "Yeah..." says Harry. "Voldemort murdered him and then stepped over his body toward my mum." Slughorn's gaze doesn't move from Harry, his eyes wide with horror. "He told her to get out of the way. He told me she needn't have died. He only wanted me. She could have run."

       "Oh dear," says Slughorn, the colour leaving his face. "She could have... she needn't... That's awful..."

       "It is, isn't it?" says Harry, his voice quiet. She watches Slughorn lean in, morbid fascination taking over. "But she didn't move. Dad was already dead, but she didn't want me to go too. She tried to plead with Voldemort, but he just laughed..."

       "That's enough!" says Slughorn, putting a hand on his heart as he shakes his head. He looks completely and utterly disgusted. "Really, my dear boy, enough... I'm an old man... I don't need to hear... I don't want to hear... And Holly here... I know she can't take another word of this, either..."

       Holly tilts her head. "I can do Crucio...?"

       "I forgot," says Harry, before Holly's statement sinks into Slughorn's skull. "You liked my mum, didn't you?"

       "Liked her?" says Slughorn, his eyes filing with tears. Holly leans forward herself, the darkness filling the room covering her smirk. Harry's almost got it, she thinks. "I don't imagine anyone who met her wouldn't have liked her... Very brave... Very funny... It was the most horrible thing..."

       Harry continues, "But you won't help her son." Holly sees Slughorn look visibly distressed, Harry going in for the kill. That's my boy! "She gave me her life, but you won't give me a memory... Dumbledore needs information. I need information... I am the chosen one, I have to kill him. I need that memory."

       "You are the chosen one?"

       "Of course I am," says Harry.

       "But then... my dear boy... you're asking a great deal... you're asking me, in fact, to aid you in your attempt to destroy—"

       "You don't want me to get rid of the wizard who killed Lily Evans?"

       Holly stays dead silent. She knows Harry's almost got the memory out of Slughorn, she can feel it.

       "Harry, Harry, of course I do, but—"

       "You're scared he'll find out you helped me?"

       "I am not proud... I am ashamed of what — of what that memory shows... I think I may have done great damage that day..."

       "You'd cancel out anything you did by giving me the memory," says Harry. "It would be a very brave and noble thing to do."

       Slowly, Slughorn takes his wand out from his pocket, and an empty vial from another. Holly's eyes light up with anticipation, leaning closer. Almost... Almost... He draws the memory from his mind, raising his wand to his temple and pulling the entirety of the memory out, slowly, slowly, a long silvery line growing and growing, attached still to his wand. It snaps off, and it coils into the vial, glowing dimly.

       He hands it to Harry, his eyes beginning to droop.

       "Thank you very much, Professor."

       "You're a good boy... And you've got her eyes..." says Slughorn, tears silently making tracks down his cheeks, down his neck, staining the top of his robes. "Just don't think too badly of me once you've seen it..."

       He puts his head on his arms, falling asleep.

       Holly turns to Harry, her eyes wide with excitement. She nods at him, gesturing for him to follow her outside, back up to the school, and he does so, the door quietly closing behind him.

       As soon as the door closes, Holly turns to Harry, a grin spreading across her face as she opens her arms in victory. Harry grins back at her, and she can't help herself, she throws herself onto him, hugging him tightly. "YOU DID IT!" she says, laughing excitedly. "If you know this—"

       "I can stop him," says Harry, and Holly nods, feeling completely and utterly over the moon.

       He's almost there. Soon, he'll be able to defeat Voldemort for good, and all of this will be behind them — she can see her dad again. She knows there's still a mountain to climb before that, but shit, this memory's the map to surviving the ascent.

—✧—✧—✧—✧—

gonna be honest i hate this chapter but oh well the next ones are good and im excited

also for the end of part one i'm completely fucking up the timeline. like in the book there's a week or two between this chapter and sectumsempra and then like an entire month before the end of the book and like,,, i want tensions building and not an entire month between the Important Events so yeah. this will most likely lean closer to how the film showed the ending?? like in the way that katie (april) returns, sectumsempra, then astronomy tower. it works better for this (also how the hell can i call a chapter 'ascending ascending' when the tension doesn't even do that u know)

let me know what you thought!! :-)