CHAPTER THREE
( whispers that eat away at the mind )

THE WHISPERS HAD began once again, and so had the war in her mind. The Daily Prophet sat open atop her empty breakfast plate, the front cover reading The Boy Who Lies? Which had been a recurring debate in the weeks following the Triwizard Tournament. These articles had infuriated her, they blatantly lied to the public about what was happening behind closed doors. Voldemort had returned, and Cornelius Fudge had ignorantly denied it over and over again. Each morning, Delphine opened the paper in hopes of reading something about anything other than the Tournament and Harry Potter. She was beginning to detest everyone who affiliated themselves with the Ministry, including those that defended Fudge.

The Order had split views on the subject as well, many taking Harry's side. However, Delphine had caught ends of secret conversations between the group that involved Sirius defending Harry and Dumbledore against the likes of Severus Snape.

"Fear is a fickle thing, Miss Diggory," Sirius had brought Delphine back into the present. His large hand found her shoulder and gave it a comforting squeeze, "Cornelius Fudge is a fool when it comes to You-Know-Who, thinks that his ignorance causes reality to be reversed."

"He's an idiot, the whole lot of them are. If they can't admit that Voldemort is back, after everything that's happened, they're never going to admit it," the fury she had felt burned through her entire being. She could feel the warmth of anger kiss her cheeks as they burned scarlet.

"My brother didn't die of his own accord, it's an insult to his memory to say so. If I'm not mistaken, Dumbledore and many others had the conversation with Fudge about Voldemort's return, as well as what happened the night my brother died." The hands wrapped around the sides of the paper were shaking.

"Dumbledore, and many others, have made it clear to Fudge about the circumstances in which your brother was killed, as you said, he knows. However, he refuses to believe anything about anything that has to do with the Dark Lord," Remus had interjected from across the table, the shadow on his face told Delphine that the beast within him was stirring, especially as the night of the full moon drew closer.

Delphine had closed the newspaper, her face still crimson in anger when the kitchen door burst open. Arthur Weasley and Harry Potter stood panting at the kitchen door, their faces held exuberant smiles.

"Cleared," Arthur Weasley exclaimed, unaware of the chilling anger and loathing that had spread through the room before their arrival, "Of all charges!"

Delphine could sense the relief radiating off of the men in the room, however she felt nothing but hatred towards them. Their narrow minded ideas that everything was going to be alright since Harry's charges of his use of unlawful magic in front of a muggle had been waved. She knew, Remus knew, that this was only the beginning of something much more sinister, that would bleed into their lives at Hogwarts.

Remus' face had remained stone cold, uneasiness radiated off of him as he and Delphine locked eyes. A rush of teenagers came through the doors of the kitchen, hearing the jubilant cries of Sirius and the others as they celebrated the near expulsion of the boy who lived that had so easily passed. But Remus knew, he knew that it wasn't that easy, that that had been only the beginning of something more that would remain with Harry for some years. If the Ministry had just cleared that charge, even if it had been because of Dumbledore, He understood that they would not be so understanding the next time around. That Harry's every movement would be watched, as well as those around him.

Delphine and Remus both knew that there was much more to the clearing of Harry's charges than just finding him innocent. There always would be much more to Harry Potter's life than just simplicity.

—

A throng of people ciphered in from all directions onto the Platform. The smoke from the train hung around the ground, creating a thick haze to cling around the student's feet.

Delphine's eyes were in a constant frenzy, watching every movement around her warily. She felt as if every nerve in her body was standing on end, watching her peers mill about, bidding farewell to their families and heading to the crimson locomotive. She felt dozens of eyes follow her as she walked across the platform. She knew they hadn't just been looking at the entourage of people following behind her and the others, but at the sad girl who lost her brother at the end of last term.

The girl who had been conveniently absent from the end of term feast. The girl who had once been lively and intriguing, but now seemed dull and troubled. She knew as they turned their glances elsewhere when she caught their eyes, how they whispered to those around them as she passed, she knew they were watching her.

The order had insisted on seeing the teenagers off to Hogwarts, and against his better judgment, Mad-Eye had agreed.

"Del," A soft voice had broken through her eas and into her mind, wafting away all the bitter thoughts that had been rampant only moments prior. The hand on her arm caused her hair to stand on end, a tingle sent through her entire body as she looked at the owner of the hand.

Remus Lupin stood before her, looking worse for wear, as he had so often in those days. His head dipped to the side, motioning her away from the others, away from the crowd of peering eyes.

Remus' heart seemed to break a little more as he watched Delphine tense under his touch, her eyes so void of any emotion besides fear. The previous weeks at Grimmauld Place had left Remus with an unfillable void in his heart, one that held a soft spot for the young girl that appeared so put together in front of him.

One glance at Delphine Diggory, no one would have known she was destroying every ounce of her being on the inside. From an outsider's point of view, she appeared to be a normal teenager, long hair, blossoming features, however the badges beneath her eyes and the hollowness of her tone spoke volumes to those closest to her.

"Didn't mean to startle you, just needed to discuss some things," Remus' voice was soft as they found a corner away from the crowd. The scars on his face were enhanced by the shadows that danced across them.

"It's about your father, and the Ministry," he sighed, rubbing a calloused hand on the nape of his neck. He was clearly agitated and nervous, and Delphine understood exactly how he was feeling.

Her father. She hadn't heard a single thing about him until a few nights ago when she had snuck the Daily Prophet up into her bedroom and scoured the entire paper until she found something, anything, about Cedric or any of her family to be exact. And that had been when she found the article, one she wished she hadn't.

DIGGORY GONE DANGEROUS?

Delphine recalled the small article, as it only took up an eighth of a page in the Prophet, however it encapsulated her entire mind for days after she had read it. An article that had been insignificant to others had struck the deepest parts of Delphine's heart.

The article shredded any last hopeful thought she had had about her father. It reported that Amos Diggory had been spotted fleeing an abandoned Manor overlooking the small town of Little Hangleton. The mere sight of the town's name had caused a tremor to erupt in Delphine's hand, a memory of her brother had slid across her mind as she pushed through and read on. It stated that her father had broken into the Riddle Manor, destroying what was left in hopes of finding something there.

What her father had been searching for was unknown to her, however the man in front of her had known exactly what he had been so eager to find.

"You're aware that your father was caught in Little Hangleton a few days ago?" Remus questioned softly.

Delphine mustered up a nod, "But you don't know what he was looking for, I presume?"

"I have my ideas," the ideas that ran rampant throughout her mind had made her uneasy, she had tried to keep the article out of her mind, her father out of her mind. Though it had become increasingly difficult the longer time had passed.

"We haven't much time," Remus quickened his voice with a glance to his watch.

Remus glanced behind Delphine as Arthur Weasley made his way towards the two, knowing exactly what the two were discussing. His hair was peppered with gray, the long nights at the Ministry and the worry of his children's well-being had taken its toll on him.

He was looking for something dark," Remus sighed, a hand reaching up to anxiously fiddle with the collar of his overcoat, "Something to change the law of nature."

"Something to bring my brother back," she finished, her assumptions becoming reality when Remus refused to look her in the eyes.

"We think he's been tampering with dark magic, Delphine," Arthur whispered.

"What does this have to do with me?" She became enraged when the thought of having to carry another burden surfaced.

As if I didn't have enough to worry about, enough to deal with? They think telling me this would help? She thought as the two men in front of her shared a knowing look.

"We understand that you have a lot going on in that witty brain of yours, however we tell you this in hopes that you take our warning seriously."

"Warning?" she scoffed, "You think I'm getting ideas!" A harsh laugh escaped her throat, one that she had been holding back since that morning.

"We just–" Arthur started.

"You just believe that I'm going to go and join the Dark Lord's army," another harsh laugh escaped her, a fury behind her words so large that she could feel the heat radiating out of her, "You think I'm going to join the fight of the very person that murdered my brother because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time!"

Remus sighed, a long and exhausted sigh that told Delphine he had anticipated her reaction, "We know you are smarter than that Delphine, we just want to warn you of what might happen at Hogwarts this year."

"We, the Order, want you to know that you can confide in us at any time," Arthur said.

"We want to warn you, as well, that the Ministry is infiltrating Hogwarts. Fudge believes that Dumbledore is undermining him, starting his own army," Remus had begun to talk rather rapidly, "Be careful, if the Ministry is at Hogwarts, they're there for a reason. Every move will be monitored, every utterance of the Dark Lord will be accounted for and punished. Fudge is afraid that if the truth is spread that it will make it reality. You and Harry especially will be watched, kept under close tabs."

"Because Voldemort killed my brother, and the Ministry is unwilling to tell the truth about it?"

"Exactly so," Arthur confirmed, "We have to go, the train will be leaving in a few minutes, write to us if you have any other questions."

"Don't use the same owl twice, use code names, everything in and out of Hogwarts is going to be checked," Remus reminded.

Delphine sighed, overwhelmed at the amount of information she had just received, "Okay."

As the two men left her, receding into the crowd, Delphine's ears had become filled with whispers. She kept her head low as she struggled through the crowd on the platform, hearing snippets of her peers whispering to their friends and families about how dreadful she appeared, or remnants of conversations of what had occurred at the end of the school year previous.

She receded into her own mind as she thought about what Remus and Arthur had informed her of, questions swirling throughout. One however, stood out more than all the others, What had her father been so eager to find?