They're burning all the witches, even if you aren't one
They got their pitchforks and proof
Their receipts and reasons
They're burning all the witches, even if you aren't one
So light me up, light me up
Light me up, go ahead and light me up
Light me up, light me up
Light me up, light me up

They say I did something bad
Then why's it feel so good?
They say I did something bad
But why's it feel so good?
Most fun I ever had
And I'd do it over and over and over again if I could
It just felt so good, good
Oh, you say I did something bad
Then why's it feel so good, good?
So bad, why's it feel so good?
Why's it feel, why's it feel so good?
It just felt so good, good

"I Did Something Bad"
Taylor Swift

~

LUCY:

I folded up the piece of parchment on which I'd written my letter to Cedric and stuck it in my trunk with the others. I thought offhandedly that I really ought to find a better place for the letters, possibly even think of a way to "send" them, but I had to head to the Room of Requirement. I dragged my sleeves across my face a couple of times as I hurried there to try to destroy any evidence that I'd been crying, but as soon as I walked in and saw Harry, his face fell.

"What's wrong?"

I shook my head. "I'll be glad when Patronus lessons are over."

"Only one or two more meetings of this, then we'll go back to shields. Those are more universally helpful anyway." Harry opened his arms and raised his eyebrows. "C'mere."

I rushed forward and accepted the hug, and a couple of the broken pieces came a little closer together.

"Reckon we could try to find a boggart sometime?" I asked as we pulled away. "It would help make sure everyone's Patronuses are battle-ready."

"Good idea! We can look over the holiday," he replied.

I couldn't wait for the Easter holidays. A whole week of uninterrupted O.W.L. preparation. Hermione and I had drawn up a schedule already so we could make the most of the time we had, and we'd been brewing wideye potions under our beds for weeks at that point. I reckoned we could make an allowance to find a boggart, though, because it would give us a chance to practice the Boggart-Banishing Spell. I would mention it to Hermione later, maybe we could sneak out with Harry and the Invisibility Cloak that night.

The Room of Requirement slowly filled, and, to our surprise, there was a new face in the crowd. Dean had finally managed to bring Seamus along.

That night, there were several people able to produce corporeal Patronuses. Hermione and Ron were among the first to do so, an otter and a Jack Russell respectively. To my surprise, Cho was able to produce a Patronus too, a swan.

"Just remember," Harry called at one point, "it's easy to produce a Patronus in a brightly-lit classroom when nothing is threatening you! If a dementor is around, this will become much more difficult!"

Cho sighed. "Oh, don't be such a killjoy. They're so pretty!"

"They're not supposed to be pretty, they're supposed to protect you," Harry muttered in reply.

"Harry and I learned with a boggart," I piped up, "so we'll look for one over holiday that we can bring here! We had to try to conjure a Patronus while the boggart was pretending to be a dementor."

Lavender looked at me desperately. "But that would be really scary, and I still can't do it!"

"You'll get there, Lav, you'll get there," I said, patting her on the shoulder as I made my way over to Neville and Henry. "You two alright?"

"I'm trying," Neville managed as he glared at his wand.

"You've got this, Neville!" I glanced at Henry, who looked rather resigned as he watched his friends admiring their Patronuses. "I know. I haven't been able to conjure one, either. It'll be alright."

"Even the memories that don't have him don't feel quite the same," he said. "Has that been true for you, too?"

"Definitely. It's alright, though, Henry, I know you'll get it soon."

Before he could say anything, the door opened and closed. Little footsteps slapped against the stone, and I made my way over to Harry just as Dobby appeared.

"Hi Dobby!" Harry said cheerfully. "What are you — what's wrong?"

The room fell silent as everyone strained to hear what the terrified house-elf had to say.

"Harry Potter, sir... Harry Potter, sir... Dobby has come to warn you... but the house-elves have been warned not to tell..."

Dobby sprinted toward the wall, narrowly slipping out from the hands Harry and I shot out to try to stop him. He didn't hurt himself, though, because the stack of hats he was wearing cushioned the blow.

Harry and I darted over, each grabbing one of Dobby's arms so he couldn't do anything else to punish himself.

"What's going on, Dobby?" I dropped to one knee so I was at his eye level. "Don't hurt yourself, please."

"She... she..."

"Who's 'she,' Dobby?" Harry asked.

I froze. "Umbridge?"

Dobby nodded then tried to wrench his arms free, but Harry and I didn't let him hurt himself.

"What about her?" Harry's voice shook. "Dobby — she hasn't found out about this — about us — about the D.A.?"

Dobby didn't say anything aloud, but he didn't have to.

"Is she coming?" I asked.

"Yes!" Dobby wailed, stamping the floor as hard as he could to hurt himself.

I scooped him up and jumped to my feet.

Harry gestured wildly at the group. "What are you waiting for? Run!"

All at once, everyone rushed toward the doors. Harry grabbed me by the shoulders as a means of getting Dobby to stop his thrashing in my arms. "Dobby — this is an order — get back down to the kitchen with the other elves, and if she asks you whether you warned me, lie and say no! And I forbid you to hurt yourself!"

"Thank you, Harry Potter!" Dobby said. I set him down, and he rushed toward the door with the others.

"C'mon, you two, run!" Ron shouted as he and Hermione gestured frantically for us to follow.

Harry and I exchanged a brief glance and started running.

We were the last two to run through the door. I heard footsteps echoing all around us as people ran as fast as they could away from the Room of Requirement.

In hindsight, Harry and I should have taken off in two different directions. We didn't even consider that for a second, though. We moved as one and tore off to the right, but we'd only gone a couple of steps when we suddenly crashed to the stone next to each other.

All of the wind was knocked from my lungs by the impact. As I writhed a bit on the ground, I was faintly aware of laughing.

"Trip Jinx!" Draco Malfoy crowed. "Hey, Professor — PROFESSOR! I've caught not just one, but two!"

Harry grabbed me by the arm and tried to pull us both to our feet, but before we could get anywhere, Umbridge rounded the corner with a truly malevolent expression on her face.

"Oh, it's them! It's both of them! Excellent, Draco, excellent! Fifty points to Slytherin!" Umbridge marched over, forced us apart, and grabbed us each roughly by an arm. "You hop along and see if you can round up anymore of them, Draco. Tell the others to look in the library — anybody out of breath — check the bathrooms, Miss Parkinson can do the girls' ones — off you go — and you. You two can come with me to the headmaster's office."

I tried to force air into my lungs, but panic was making that difficult. I hoped no one else had been caught. If anything happened to anyone else, I would never forgive myself.

I risked a glance at Harry behind Umbridge's head. He looked as horrible as I felt, staring straight ahead with his jaw clenched and his eyes stormy.

By the time we reached the office, the worst of the pain had subsided, but terror was still making it impossible to breathe properly. To my horror, the office was packed. Professor Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, Cornelius Fudge, Kingsley Shacklebolt, John Dawlish, and Percy Weasley.

My stomach dropped to my toes at the sight of Percy in particular. He was clearly prepared to take notes on whatever was about to happen, looking quite gleeful as he dipped his quill into the ink. His head snapped up when the door closed behind us, and our eyes locked.

He faltered, his mouth hanging open. I wasn't sure how to feel about seeing him again. He had never replied to my letter. He hadn't shown his face at Christmas. But it was Percy. We'd always had a good relationship, arguably better than his relationship with his siblings. It looked as if he wasn't sure how to feel about seeing me again either, but he forced his eyes away from me and began scribbling notes on the parchment in front of him.

Harry and I yanked ourselves free from Umbridge and stepped closer together as she strode forward to stand next to Fudge.

"They were heading back to Gryffindor Tower. The Malfoy boy cornered them both."

"Did he, did he? I must remember to tell Lucius." Cornelius Fudge glared at Harry, then turned that same glare to me. Despite the rising panic in my chest, I lifted my chin and met his glare with one of my own. "Well, Potter, Diggory, I expect you know why you are here?"

Harry and I exchanged a glance. Whatever we said, it had to be together. We both wanted to say yes, but when we looked back at Fudge, Dumbledore shook his head ever so slightly, so our answer changed.

"No," we said in unison.

"I beg your pardon?"

"No," we repeated.

"You don't know why you are here?"

"No," we said a third time.

Fudge opened and closed his mouth a couple of times in disbelief. "So you have no idea why Professor Umbridge has brought you to this office? You are not aware that you have broken any school rules?"

"School rules?" Harry asked.

"No," I said.

"Or Ministry decrees?"

"Not that I'm aware of," I replied coolly. I turned to Harry. "Have you broken any Ministry decrees lately?"

He shrugged. "Don't think so."

As we turned back to Fudge, I felt a storm of emotions swirling in me so intense I had to clench my fists to stop my magic from betraying me via sparks from my fingertips. Harry and I were toast, truly, but Professor Dumbledore had told us to lie. We had to trust him.

Fudge was about to explode. "So it's news to you, is it, that an illegal student organization has been discovered within this school?"

Harry and I nodded.

"I think, Minister, we might make better progress if I fetch our informant," Umbridge said.

Fudge nodded. "Yes, yes, do."

Umbridge hurried from the room, and my heart raced faster.

Who had betrayed us?

"There's nothing like a good witness, is there, Dumbledore?" Fudge asked.

"Nothing at all, Cornelius," he replied.

In the minutes that passed in tense silence, I looked back at Percy. He couldn't pretend to keep writing forever when nothing was being said.

He seemed to feel my gaze on him. His quill faltered, slowed, then stopped. Finally, he looked up at me again.

He looked from Harry to me, a silent accusation in his eyes. I could see the hurt, the anger. He seemed to be asking why I had so blatantly ignored his advice, why I had gotten myself into trouble. I had no answer I could give that would be good enough for him. It was clear he cared little for what was right and even less for loyalty. At the same time, though, I could see past the hurt and the anger. I could see beneath it all the genuine care for me. He looked at Professor McGonagall for half a second, but she didn't meet his gaze.

It was then that I realized she was appraising me. And Harry, beside me. Us. She didn't meet my gaze, but there was a grim sort of pride on her face. Fear, yes. Perhaps even a bit of anger. But pride nonetheless.

Slowly, slowly, slowly, slowly, I reached my pinky out and grazed Harry's hand. He jolted ever so slightly at the touch, but when our eyes met, he relaxed just a bit. Whatever was about to happen, we were in it together.

Words from the summer, my words, flitted through my mind. "You don't have to be nervous, Harry. Everything will work out one way or another. I don't think they'll expel you, but if they do, I'll go get myself expelled too, and we can be delinquents together, running secret missions for the Order and causing all sorts of trouble for the Ministry." Suddenly, I found myself frantically stifling a smile. Whatever happened, we would be just fine. We had to be. Even if we were delinquents.

Harry didn't miss the amusement that must have flashed across my face, because he furrowed his eyebrows slightly in confusion. I didn't trust myself not to bust up laughing at how ridiculous I was being, so I glanced away and crossed my arms over my chest, keeping my fists clenched so no sparks could escape and betray me.

All of my amusement died the second the door opened, though. Umbridge stormed in with Marietta Edgecombe, who was hiding her face in her hands in shame, by her side. Every little good emotion I'd just been feeling was chased away by the bitter sting of betrayal.

"Don't be scared, dear, don't be frightened, it's quite alright now. You have done the right thing. The minister is very pleased with you. He'll be telling your mother what a good girl you've been!" Umbridge looked up at Fudge with a bright smile. Marietta's mother, Minister," she added, looking up at Fudge, "is Madam Edgecombe from the Department of Magical Transportation. "Floo Network office — she's been helping us police the Hogwarts fires, you know."

"Jolly good, jolly good! Like mother, like daughter, eh? Well, come on, now, dear, look up, don't be shy, let's hear what you've got to—"

Marietta lifted her head, and the world dropped out from under me. The word SNEAK had been spelled across her nose and cheeks in horrific purple bumps.

"Never mind the spots now, dear, just take your robes away from your mouth and tell the Minister—" Umbridge tried to say, but Marietta cried out and shook her head. "Oh, very well, you silly girl, I'll tell him. Well, Minister, Miss Edgecombe here came to my office shortly after dinner this evening and told me she had something she wanted to tell me. She said that if I proceeded to a secret room on the seventh floor, sometimes known as the Room of Requirement, I would find out something to my advantage. I questioned her a little further and she admitted that there was to be some kind of meeting there. Unfortunately at that point this hex came into operation and upon catching sight of her face in my mirror the girl became too distressed to tell me any more."

Fudge managed a smile. "Well, now, it is very brave of you, my dear, coming to tell Professor Umbridge, you did exactly the right thing. Now, will you tell me what happened at this meeting? What was its purpose? Who was there?"

She shook her head again, refusing to answer.

"Haven't we got a counterjinx for this so she can speak freely?" Fudge snapped.

"I have not yet managed to find one," Umbridge replied.

I couldn't breathe. Hermione had assured me she'd taken care of it, that we'd know who had betrayed us if that time ever came. I hadn't thought to press too hard for details. I had trusted her. I had trusted that she would think of something just to alert us so we knew who it was.

I swallowed hard, suddenly feeling tears begin to crawl up my throat, pity for Marietta surging through me. If Hermione's idea of justice is permanently disfiguring someone's face, I...

"But it doesn't matter if she won't speak," Umbridge continued, "I can take up the story from here. You will remember, Minister, that I sent you a report back in October that Potter and Diggory had met a number of fellow students in the Hog's Head in Hogsmeade—"

"And what is your evidence for that?" Professor McGonagall interrupted.

"I have testimony from Willy Widdershins, Minerva, who happened to be in the bar at the time. He was heavily bandaged, it is true, but his hearing was quite unimpaired. He heard every word Potter and Diggory said and hastened straight to the school to report to me—"

Professor McGonagall's eyebrows shot up dangerously high. "Oh, so that's why he wasn't prosecuted for setting up all those regurgitating toilets! What an interesting insight into our justice system!"

"Blatant corruption! he Ministry did not cut deals with petty criminals in my day, no sir, they did not!" one of the portraits behind Professor Dumbledore shouted.

Dumbledore sighed softly. "Thank you, Fortescue, that will do."

"The purpose of their meeting with these students was to persuade them to join an illegal society, whose aim was to learn spells and curses the Ministry has decided are inappropriate for school-age—"

This time, it was Professor Dumbledore who interrupted her. "I think you'll find you're wrong there, Dolores."

"Oho! Yes, do, let's hear the latest cock-and-bull story designed to pull Potter out of trouble! Go on, then, Dumbledore, go on — Willy Widdershins was lying, was he? Or was it Potter's identical twin in the Hog's Head that day? Or is there the usual simple explanation involving a reversal of time, a dead man coming back to life, and a couple of invisible dementors?"

To my horror, Percy laughed. "Oh, very good, Minister, very good!"

I opened my mouth to point out the fact that I was there too, but Professor Dumbledore spoke again before I got the chance.

"Cornelius, I do not deny — and nor, I am sure, would Harry or Lucy — that they were in the Hog's Head that day, nor that they were trying to recruit students to a Defense Against the Dark Arts group. I am merely pointing out that Dolores is quite wrong to suggest that such a group was, at that time, illegal. If you remember, the Ministry decree banning all student societies was not put into effect until two days after the children's Hogsmeade meeting, so they were not breaking any rules in the Hog's Head at all."

A bit of the tension in my chest loosened. He was right.

But Umbridge, of course, wouldn't stop. "That's all very fine, Headmaster, but we are now nearly six months on from the introduction of Educational Decree Number Twenty-four. If the first meeting was not illegal, all those that have happened since most certainly are."

"Well, they certainly would be, if they had continued after the decree came into effect. Do you have any evidence that these meetings continued?"

Someone whispered a spell I'd never heard before. A chill ran down my spine when I realized it was Kingsley that had whispered it. Surely the situation was dire, if those were the measures being taken to protect us.

Nobody else seemed to have heard him.

Umbridge carried on quite unfazed. "Evidence? Have you not been listening, Dumbledore? Why do you think Miss Edgecombe is here?"

"Oh, can she tell us about six months' worth of meetings? I was under the impression that she was merely reporting a meeting tonight."

"Miss Edgecombe, tell us how long these meetings have been going on, dear. You can simply nod or shake your head, I'm sure that won't make the spots worse. Have they been happening regularly over the last six months? Just nod or shake your head, dear. Come on, now, that won't activate the jinx further."

Marietta's eyes were blank as she shook her head. Whatever Kingsley was doing was working.

Umbridge blinked. "I don't think you understood the question, did you, dear? I'm asking whether you've been going to these meetings for the past six months? You have, haven't you?"

She shook her head again.

"What do you mean by shaking your head, dear?"

Professor McGonagall exhaled sharply. "I would have thought her meaning was quite clear. There have been no secret meetings for the past six months. Is that correct, Miss Edgecombe?"

"But there was a meeting tonight! There was a meeting, Miss Edgecombe, you told me about it, in the Room of Requirement! And Potter and Diggory were the leaders, were they not, Potter and Diggory organized it, they — why are you shaking your head, girl?"

"Well, usually when a person shakes their head, they mean 'no,'" Professor McGonagall said, "so unless Miss Edgecombe is using a form of sign language as yet unknown to humans—"

Umbridge suddenly began to shake Marietta violently, but she stopped as soon as Professor Dumbledore and Kingsley trained their wands on her.

"I cannot allow you to manhandle my students, Dolores," Professor Dumbledore barked.

Kingsley's voice was cool, bordering on cold. "You want to calm yourself, Madam Umbridge. You don't want to get yourself into trouble now."

She froze. "No, I mean, yes — you're right, Shacklebolt — I — I forgot myself."

Fudge's voice had a certain air of finality when he spoke again. "Dolores, the meeting tonight — the one we know definitely happened—"

"Yes, yes, well, Miss Edgecombe tipped me off and I proceeded at once to the seventh floor, accompanied by certain trustworthy students, so as to catch those in the meeting red-handed. It appears that they were forewarned of my arrival, however, because when we reached the seventh floor they were running in every direction. It does not matter, however. I have all their names here, Miss Parkinson ran into the Room of Requirement for me to see if they had left anything behind. We needed evidence and the room provided this."

Harry and I both sucked in a breath when she pulled the roster from her pocket and handed it to the minister.

"The moment I saw Potter's and Diggory's names on the list, I knew what we were dealing with," she reported with no small amount of smugness.

"Excellent. Excellent, Dolores. And, by thunder, see what they've named themselves?" Fudge looked up at Dumbledore maliciously. "Dumbledore's Army."

Professor Dumbledore studied the parchment for a minute before smiling. "Well, the game is up. Would you like a written confession from me, Cornelius — or will a statement before these witnesses suffice?"

Professor McGonagall and Kingsley shared a panicked glance. The only person in the room who seemed to know what was happening was Professor Dumbledore.

Fudge blinked. "Statement? What — I don't—?"

"Dumbledore's Army, Cornelius. Not Potter's Army. Not Diggory's Army. Dumbledore's Army."

"But — but—" Suddenly, Fudge seemed to have a realization. "You?"

"That's right."

"You organized this?"

"I did."

"You recruited these students for — for your army?"

"Tonight was supposed to be the first meeting, merely to see whether they would be interested in joining me. I see now that it was a mistake to invite Miss Edgecombe, of course."

"Then you have been plotting against me!"

"That's right!"

Harry and I exchanged a panicked glance. This had gone too far, we couldn't let him take the fall for us.

"No!" we burst out together.

"We—" I started, but Kingsley and Professor McGonagall both shot me a look that froze me in my tracks.

Harry either didn't see this look or ignored it. "No — Professor Dumbledore!"

"Be quiet, Harry, or I am afraid you will have to leave my office," Professor Dumbledore said.

"Yes, shut up, Potter!" Fudge snapped.

"You can't just tell Harry to shut up!" I interjected desperately. "Merlin, he's just fifteen, we're just fifteen! Why are you here, why are you doing all of this?"

"Well, I came here tonight expecting to expel Potter, and apparently you as well," he sneered, "but instead—"

"Instead you get to arrest me. It's like losing a Knut and finding a Galleon, isn't it?" Dumbledore finished on his behalf.

I opened my mouth to protest again, but Fudge was no longer paying me any mind.

"Weasley! Weasley, have you written it all down, everything he's said, his confession, have you got it?"

Percy nodded. "Yes, sir, I think so, sir!"

"The bit about how he's been trying to build up an army against the Ministry, how he's been working to destabilize me?"

"Yes, sir, I've got it, yes!"

"Very well, then! Duplicate your notes, Weasley, and send a copy to the Daily Prophet at once. If we send a fast owl we should make the morning edition!"

Percy jumped up and looked at me for half a second before sprinting to the door. In that half a second, it was clear that relief was written all over his face.

He had been worried about me. He had expected me to be expelled. He was glad I wasn't in trouble. He was glad he seemed to have been proven right about Dumbledore.

I just wanted to curl up into a ball and cry. It was all too much, all at once.

Fudge sighed happily. "Dumbledore, you will now be escorted back to the Ministry, where you will be formally charged and then sent to Azkaban to await trial!"

To my surprise, he seemed completely unfazed by this horrific declaration. "Ah yes. Yes, I thought we might hit that little snag."

"Snag? I see no snag, Dumbledore!"

"Well, I'm afraid I do."

"Oh really?"

"Well — it's just that you seem to be laboring under the delusion that I am going to — what is the phrase? 'Come quietly?' I am afraid I am not going to come quietly at all, Cornelius. I have absolutely no intention of being sent to Azkaban. I could break out, of course — but what a waste of time, and frankly, I can think of a whole host of things I would rather be doing."

I saw Dawlish reach for his wand, and so did Professor Dumbledore.

"Don't be silly, Dawlish. I'm sure you are an excellent Auror, I seem to remember that you achieved 'Outstanding' in all your N.E.W.T.s, but if you attempt to — er — 'bring me in' by force, I will have to hurt you."

Dawlish froze and looked at Fudge for direction.

Fudge drew himself up to his full height. "So, you intend to take on Dawlish, Shacklebolt, Dolores, and myself single-handed, do you, Dumbledore?"

"Merlin's beard, no. Not unless you are foolish enough to force me to."

Professor McGonagall reached for her wand. "He will not be single-handed!"

Professor Dumbledore turned to her. "Oh yes he will, Minerva! Hogwarts needs you!"

"Enough of this rubbish! Dawlish! Shacklebolt! Take him!" Fudge shouted.

"Get down!" Professor McGonagall whispered in a voice only I would be able to hear.

I grabbed Harry and Marietta both around the neck and dropped all three of us to the ground. Professor McGonagall was suddenly there too, throwing herself on top of us as a flash of silver and a loud bang made the room shake. There was a moment of bedlam, then silence, as dust fell to the ground.

I coughed weakly and looked at Harry. "You alright?"

"Yeah, you?" he asked, also coughing.

I nodded and turned to Marietta, whose eyes were beginning to clear. Thinking quickly, I put a quick Muffling Charm around her head so she wouldn't hear anything that was said.

"Good thinking, Miss Diggory," Professor Dumbledore said softly as he approached. "Is everyone alright?"

"Yes," Professor McGonagall managed, getting to her feet.

"No, no, stay down," he said, "they will all awake very soon and it will be best if they do not know that we had time to communicate — you must act as though no time has passed, as though they were merely knocked to the ground, they will not remember — unfortunately, I had to hex Kingsley too, or it would have looked very suspicious. He was remarkably quick on the uptake, modifying Miss Edgecombe's memory like that while everyone was looking the other way — thank him for me, won't you, Minerva?"

I felt as if I'd been punched in the stomach. Again. But I couldn't let any of it show on my face.

She ignored his request. "Where will you go, Dumbledore? Grimmauld Place?"

"Oh no, I am not leaving to go into hiding. Fudge will soon wish he'd never dislodged me from Hogwarts, I promise you." He turned suddenly to Harry. "Listen to me, Harry, you must study Occlumency as hard as you can, do you understand me? Do everything Professor Snape tells you and practice it particularly every night before sleeping so that you can close your mind to bad dreams — you will understand why soon enough, but you must promise me—" He was interrupted by Dawlish beginning to stir and Fawkes beginning to circle the room, so he reached forward and grabbed Harry by the wrist. "Remember — close your mind — you will understand."

At that exact moment, Fawkes swooped over us. Professor Dumbledore reached up, grabbed his tail feathers, and disappeared in a flash.

A second later, everyone awoke and jumped to their feet.

"Where is he? Where is he?" Fudge screeched.

"I don't know," Kingsley said.

Umbridge looked angrier than I'd ever seen her. "Well, he can't have disapparated! You can't inside this school—"

"The stairs!" Dawlish exclaimed, rushing toward them. He was soon followed by Kingsley and Umbridge, leaving us alone with Fudge.

"Well, Minerva, I'm afraid this is the end of your friend Dumbledore," he snarled.

"You think so, do you?" she snapped back.

He ignored her. "You'd better get those three off to bed," he muttered as he started walking around the office.

Professor McGonagall made no reply as we all got to our feet and hurried out of the office.

Just before the door closed, I could hear the voice of one of the portraits, the same one that was hanging in Grimmauld Place. Phineas Nigellus, I thought.

"You know, Minister, I disagree with Dumbledore on many counts... but you cannot deny he's got style."

Marietta groaned, shaking her head dazedly.

"Wait," I murmured to Harry and Professor McGonagall.

I removed the Muffling Charm bit by bit from around her head until I was sure it was gone.

"Are you alright?" I asked in the most gentle voice I could muster. I'd never really talked to Marietta all that much, but seeing her standing there with tears in her eyes and SNEAK across her face, I couldn't recall a time I'd felt worse for another human being.

"I..." She lifted her robes back over her face and began to cry.

"Hey, hey, hey, hey," I whispered, gently reaching forward and lowering the robes to better see her face. "Do they hurt?"

"You would know, wouldn't you?" she cried. "You did this!"

"No," I half-sobbed, "I didn't, it wasn't me, I promise! I would never do this! I'm not upset with you, Marietta, it's alright, I know you just did what you thought was best, I'm so sorry—"

"You're — not upset?"

I shook my head. "No, I want to help."

"I think," Professor McGonagall said, her voice thick and trembling, "Miss Edgecombe ought to head to the Hospital Wing for the night. I trust you and Mr. Potter are capable of heading up to Gryffindor Tower on your own?"

"We are," Harry answered on behalf of both of us. He stepped forward and grabbed me by the shoulder. "C'mon, Lu."