~Astra~

I really thought no one had noticed me, so when I got a tap on my shoulder, I nearly jumped out of my skin. I whirled around, wand raised, only to find one of the last people I'd expected to see: Wren.

"Oh my gosh," I said, clutching at my chest as I gasped in relief. "I almost knocked you out."

"Thank you for not doing that."

Wren laid her hand on my arm, and it suddenly occurred to me that I shouldn't have been seeing her here. I frowned suspiciously. "What are you doing, exactly?"

"I could ask you the same question," she said. Why did she sound calm instead of furious? Last time she'd pulled something like this, she'd practically been screaming at Albus and me. What was different now?

I hesitated. Did she have any idea why I was here? I didn't even know how she'd found out—she'd been down in the Ministry's area not five minutes ago. Had someone seen me and told her? What did she think was going on?

"You're going to turn yourself in, aren't you?" It wasn't really a question. I blinked at her, but she still didn't look angry. Just concerned.

I bit my lip and pulled back from her. "I... I have to do this, Wren."

She took a deep breath, the first sign of wavering I'd seen so far. To my surprise, she only nodded. "I know. I'm coming with you."

My eyes widened. Not this again. "No, you really don't need to do that."

"You don't stand a chance alone!"

"You think we'll stand a chance together?" I shook my head. "You need to leave."

"But—"

"I'm serious!" My hands balled into fists, and I had to close my eyes for a moment to get my thoughts in order. "I'm not about to let you get hurt on my account. Never again."

"You're not doing that." When I opened my eyes, Wren wasn't looking at me anymore. She'd found some spot on the floor that was interesting, it seemed. "I... I get it. You're trying to protect everyone, right?"

How had she known? I bit my lip, but there wasn't really any use denying it. "Yes. I'm not going to let you mess it up. I'm not dragging you anywhere. You don't need to come along."

"I want to." Wren reached out to take my hand, and I don't think she'd ever looked as sincere before as when she met my eyes again. "It's not like before, I promise. I chose to come up here, and I'm going to be by your side until the end, okay?"

That was what I was trying to avoid. I shook my head. "You can't protect me, okay? I'm doing this for... for you, and for my family, and for everyone else."

"You can't protect me either, Astra." Wren smiled sadly. "It's not like that. I'm not going to be in front of you or behind you. I just want to be next to you, that's all. Whether you like it or not, we're in this together. Stillens made sure of it, the moment he tore us apart."

I'll be honest—I was feeling really conflicted. I wanted Wren to get as far away from this whole place as she possibly could, be safely out of harm's way. And it was because of all the things she was saying, too, that we were inextricably linked by this madman in our lives, that we were friends who stood by each other, that I couldn't protect her. I couldn't let anything happen to her, not after everything she'd faced. But... I was so tired of being responsible. Was that selfish? Wanting to give in, just a little bit? Maybe... maybe I could be braver together than alone.

"Besides," Wren said quietly, "I have my own demons to face up there."

She pursed her lips, watching me anxiously like she was waiting for a verdict or something. I swallowed. She already knew we probably wouldn't make it out of this, and yet she still wanted to come with me. I was having trouble even imagining that, but then it hit me—if the roles were reversed, I would've done the exact same thing.

"Okay," I said softly. Though there was a lump in my throat, I found myself smiling. It was like my heart had just settled down next to a warm fire or something, if that makes sense. Suddenly overflowing with just how wonderful of a friend I had. "We're in it together, then."

"All the way." Wren smiled, but it faded in a few seconds. "So... what are you planning, exactly?"

"Oh, um..." I shrugged. "Just... get upstairs? Ask to speak to Stillens? I don't think they'll say no if I'm just handing myself over, right?"

She nodded instead of arguing, thankfully. "The way I came up didn't have any guards inside," she said, pointing at a door at the end of the balcony seating. There was only one auror standing next to it, and she looked remarkably bored. "It's for Ministry use only. It might be the easiest way."

"Are they going to have to check our identities...?"

Wren pursed her lips. "Just follow my lead."

We walked over to the door, Wren looking as if she had every right to be there (which I supposed she did). I tried to copy the attitude, look like I belonged, though I kept my hood up.

A few meters away from the door, right as the auror was beginning to notice us, Wren turned back to me. "I can't believe you ran off on me, Ciara. I thought Fred wasn't even coming?"

"I..." Before I could ask what she was doing, Wren had already reached the auror at the door. She smiled widely at her. "I'm back. We're going to head back down this way, if that's okay."

The auror frowned, nervously glancing around. "I'm not supposed to let anyone by."

"Do you know who I am?"

She grew paler. "I... yes, I do."

"And do you think Russey's going to be pleased if I miss anything because you made me shove my way through that crowd again?"

"I suppose not..."

"Perfect." Wren gestured vaguely at me. "It's just Ciara Malfoy. I won't even let anyone know we were here, okay? Feel free to send a message up to James's office if you get in trouble for this. He'll work it out."

The auror smiled a bit. She barely even glanced at me, instead hurrying to open the door for us and usher us through. Wren started down the stairs, but stopped as soon as the door had closed again.

"What on earth was that?" I whispered.

"Technically, I don't think she should be able to get in trouble for any of that. She didn't even question who you were, either."

"No, I mean... just..." Honestly, she'd reminded me of Colette for a minute, instantly creating a bunch of fake French celebrities to get us into the Prophet a few years ago. I wasn't used to watching Wren's acting like this, I guess. "Quick thinking, is all."

"Thanks." Wren paused on the landing before the final staircase. "I... I was thinking about something."

"What?" I tensed up, trying my hardest not to jump to conclusions and not doing very well. Was she about to suggest we let this all drop? Go battle it out downstairs and ignore the fact that Stillens was going to keep killing and killing and killing until there was no one left in my life at all?

"Well..." She wasn't meeting my eyes, which didn't seem like a good sign. "I'm just wondering if you've thought of this, that's all. What if... what if the DA win today, but Stillens uses you as leverage against them?"

I blinked at her. That hadn't occurred to me at all, but possibly that was because all my faith in the DA had been shattered yesterday. "Surely they'd just leave it, right? Put the good of everyone else first?"

"I don't know." I would've thought she was just harping on this to get me to turn around and leave, but she seemed really serious. Of course,  she'd shown off her acting skills not two minutes ago, but I was pretty sure she wasn't doing that now.

She sighed and shook her head. "You're a symbol, Astra. For the DA, but also for... for hope, I guess. And I know you didn't ask for that, but Stillens, the DA, everyone who's singled you out as someone special, they all made you into that. And the DA might do more to protect you than the average person."

"No, that's ridiculous." I shook my head. I knew that was wrong, because it had to be, right? Because... "If they do everything they can to rescue me, give up, whatever that is... that'll mean they didn't do all they could for you. That's... that can't be."

Wren hesitated. "It's not the same. I don't... I'm a terrorist, Astra. That's why anyone knows my name. But you're like, the opposite. You're famous for stopping me." She looked down. "At some point, the DA has to think about their public image, and abandoning you to Stillens would  look a lot worse than it did with me."

"That's not what the DA cares about!"

"It is, Astra, and that's okay. I'm not upset. I understand. I just... I want you to think about what could happen."

I scowled. "So that's your idea? You want me to rethink everything?"

"No. I know you're still going to do this. But no one said you had to be genuine about it."

No one said... I blinked as what she was implying dawned on me. "You mean like... lead him on?"

She nodded, watching me apprehensively. "I mean... I guess I don't totally know what you're planning, so if you were already going to..."

For a moment, I kept frowning at her. "You think he'd fall for that?"

"He's arrogant," she said softly. "Most people wouldn't dare. I think you'd just be playing into what he wants to believe about you."

"Right..." I found myself nodding. "So we try to stall him, I guess? Get him talking and make sure he doesn't stop." I gasped. "That'll take his attention off the battle, won't it?"

Wren's eyes widened. "We do make him irrationally angry just by existing..."

"Especially if we're existing together." I grinned. "You're a genius, you know that, right?" Her face flushed, but I saw her smiling as I passed her.

I led the way up the last flight of stairs. Like Wren had said, there weren't any guards, auror or otherwise, inside the staircase. Of course, I didn't trust that luck to hold out once we'd actually reached the top, but we weren't here to fight. It would be fine.

There was a closed door at the top of the stairs. I turned the knob as slowly and silently as I could, then pushed the door open just far enough to peek out. The room it opened onto looked empty from here, but I couldn't really tell. For a moment, I just listened, but if anyone was there, they were too far away for me to hear them breathing.

Now, the question was do we march in as if we own the place, demanding to talk to him, or try to sneak up on him somehow? Mrs. MacMillan's blueprints hadn't had anything to offer about this floor except that it existed, so who knew how many people we had to get past to reach Stillens?

Well, we couldn't just stand here deciding all day. I took a deep breath and pushed the door open as gently as I could.

No one was there. I blinked in surprise—why wouldn't someone be guarding this door? Though... maybe that was the point, in case any nosy Ministry workers came poking around. Let them think this part simply wasn't finished, maybe, or was meant to be unused.

Wren had come up behind me, and was frowning in confusion as well. She opened her mouth to say something, but I waved my hand before she could, raising one finger to my mouth. Quiet. Wren looked worried, but nodded anyway.

There weren't any doors leading out of here, as far as I could tell. It was all archways. Even with the curtains covering them, I didn't trust that the noise wouldn't travel. Until we figured out where everyone was, I didn't feel comfortable announcing our presence.

If the balconies had been built in a giant U-shape, the logical move would be to press forward, make our way around until we ran into someone. I walked over to the furthest archway and hesitated in front of it, straining to hear anything beyond it, but there was nothing. When I walked through a moment later, I found out why: this room was just as empty as the last.

So it went, through three more rooms. They were all weird shapes of varying sizes, and all of them had multiple archways we could've gone through. Maybe this was meant to be a maze, and we were getting lost in it? I just kept walking straight ahead.

Finally, when I stopped in front of a curtain in the third room, I heard voices on the other side. I held out a hand to stop Wren, as if she might've just burst through on her own. She cocked her head, frowning in concentration as she tried to listen. Though I got as close to the curtain as I dared, I couldn't make out any actually words. I heard some laughter, though. Would this be where the guards were?

I leaned closer to Wren. "Should we try to sneak in? Or just..." I mimed bursting through the curtains with my hands.

She pursed her lips for a few seconds, then shook her head. "Sneaking in won't work for long. He's surely prepared for that."

"Perfect." I tried to shoot her an encouraging smile before I turned back to the curtain. Deep breath. Steel myself. Walk through.

There were three men sitting around a small table. It looked like they were playing exploding snap, which might've seemed funny under different circumstances. Well, actually, it was pretty funny when they threw their cards down to draw their wands and the deck exploded, scattering cards everywhere.

I didn't bother even reaching for my wand. Wren suddenly seem more withdrawn, and I found myself pulling from some well of confidence I didn't know I had. As the three men seemed to take in who we were, I raised an eyebrow. "I hope you're not about to shoot me. You know who I am, right?"

That made them all cast a confused glance at each other. None of them looked much older than thirty. In fact, the guy in the back looked like he might not have been as old as Toire. And clearly, they weren't Stillens' finest. They really hadn't expected anyone to come up there, had they?

"Um, you're the Lestrange kid," the oldest man said in an American accent. He stood up a little straighter, seeming to remember himself. "What're you doing here, exactly?"

"I'd like to speak with Stillens," I said, scoffing as if that were obvious.

"That's Wren Predatel, isn't it?" one of the other men whispered.

The first man shoved him. "Shut it." When he turned back to us, he was glaring at Wren. "Do you think I'm stupid? This isn't some kind of trap?"

"It's not," she said softly. "We just want to see him."

"Why?"

"Why do you think?" I sighed a bit dramatically. "He keeps trying to make a deal with me. I want to take him up on it."

That earned me several seconds of just blinking. The youngest guy shook his head slowly. "Uh... the boss said we're not supposed to let anyone disturb him."

I rolled my eyes. "Oh, is that right? I don't suppose the boss was expecting me to show up, though. Let me through."

"She was very particular—"

"Who?"

"Katreena," the first man said, frowning at me as if I were the stupid one for having to ask. "She said it didn't matter who came up here, we're supposed to send 'em back down with a few less memories, or dispose of 'em if they start making too much trouble."

"Do you know what Stillens would say if he knew I was here?" The men exchanged a wary glance, and I crossed my arms, doing my best to look haughty. "He'd want to see me immediately. So I suggest you take me there. Now."

"Or you could go let him know we're here," Wren suggested. "See what he says."

"That's not a bad idea," the youngest one muttered.

The other two turned to glare at him. "Why don't you go ask him, then, if it's such a good idea?"

"Hold on, I didn't—"

The oldest man pointed at an archway behind them. "You volunteered for it."

"It's only fair," the other guy agreed. "You get to face him."

While they were arguing, I glanced back at Wren. She was watching the men with a wary expression, but her eyes briefly flicked over to me. This was taking too long, I thought. We were going to end up in front of Stillens in the end anyway, so might as well get it over with. I nodded towards the opposite archway.

Wren's eyes widened. She started to shake her head, but it was too late—I grabbed her hand and made a dash for it.

I made it through easily enough, but unfortunately Stillens was not on the other side of that doorway. Not that I'd really expected him to be, but about two dozen rather scary-looking followers were also not what I'd expected.

There was a long moment of stunned silence. It seemed like we'd interrupted a bit of a party, though I suspected they were just trying to pass the time until the fighting started. At one table, a group of men and women whose faces I'd definitely seen on wanted signs before were sharing a round of firewhiskeys. Across the room, a few more people had frozen in the middle of a practice duel. Right next to us, I watched a woman move a few pieces around on a wizard chess board while her partner was staring at us.

"Hey! Stop there!" The three men from the other room came barreling in right behind us. I pulled Wren a little further away from them, but otherwise no one moved. It seemed like the entire room was trying to puzzle out what was going on.

"Why've you brought Predatel's daughter up here?" a woman asked. I tried not to wince when I recognized her as Vane Hellion, one of the ones who had broken out of prison with Isaac all those years ago.

"We didn't bring her anywhere," the first guy protested. "She just appeared!"

"With Lestrange!" another one added hastily.

"And you just let them through?"

"They... well, they just ran..."

I rolled my eyes; this wasn't getting anywhere. Instead of wasting more time listening to them argue about what was going on, I put my hands on my hips and made as stern of an expression as I could. "I'd like to speak with Stillens. Right now."

Again, the room fell quiet. Most people I could see were frowning at me, genuinely confused. Vane was the only one who rolled her eyes and started marching toward us. "Maybe Stillens will make an exception for you, but in the meantime—"

She reached out for Wren's arm, and I whipped my wand out without even thinking about it. "Don't touch her."

Vane raised an eyebrow at me. She almost looked amused, but it kind of seemed like she was trying to look amused instead of caught off guard. When I glanced back to where she'd come from, I saw why—she'd left her wand on the table. However, now there were twenty-six other wands pointed at me.

Very gently, Wren pushed down the arm I'd flung out in front of her. She had her wand in her hand, but was glancing around the room apprehensively. "Astra, what are you doing?" she whispered.

"You know, I don't know anymore." I hesitated. No one was moving, and no one had made to cast a spell yet. Somehow I doubted it was because they all had a deep love and respect for Vane Hellion and didn't want to see her get my most powerful stinging hex directly in her face. Clearly, they weren't sure whether they should be following Katreena's orders or not. If they killed us, there was a good chance they'd all end up on the wrong side of Stillens' wand.

The longer we stood here without doing anything, though, the more likely it would be that one of them would start to lose their patience.

My first thought was to make another break for it, but both of our exits were blocked and we were very nearly surrounded. Fighting wasn't an option—all around were hardened criminals who would easily overwhelm us. All that left was talking. Stalling, more like, hoping word of the commotion would get back to Stillens and he'd send for us himself. Otherwise, this was going to be a little shorter of an experience than I'd planned.

"Wow, you lot really have a death wish, don't you?"

A few of them frowned at each other like they didn't catch my meaning. As long as that meant I could keep talking, I didn't care. "You really want to be the one responsible when Stillens asked who killed the two of us? I certainly wouldn't."

Across the room, I heard a few murmurs that I couldn't make out. Vane let out a laugh. "You certainly think you're special, don't you?"

"I think Stillens thinks I'm special." I shrugged. "But fine, sure, go ahead and kill us. I'm sure he won't mind at all."

"Maybe the girl's got a point...?" someone said.

"Don't listen to her!" Vane exclaimed. "She's trying to trick you."

"Think about how Isaac and Katreena are going to react when they hear you killed their only child," I continued, sickly sweet sarcasm flowing through my tone. I raised my voice in order to drown out Vane's reply. "They'll definitely just brush that off, don't you think? No broken noses, broken arms, broken necks..."

The murmurs were growing louder. Several people had lowered their wands and were glancing around nervously. I just needed to convince enough people to overrule Vane, it seemed, since she was acting like she was in charge. I could probably do that, right? I was only telling them the truth, after all.

"Stillens wants her dead," Vane countered. She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow at me, and I did my best to look like that hadn't thrown me off at all.

Wren sighed. She still hadn't actually raised her wand. "He wants to kill me himself. You know that."

"There are more important matters at hand." Vane sniffed. "It might shock you two to learn that the world doesn't revolve around you."

"Does it not?" I let my mouth drop open in mock surprise. "Has someone told Stillens that?"

Vane was glaring at us. Someone darted up behind her, and I noticed too late that they'd been passing her wand up. Now, she pointed it at me. "You can keep resisting and get both of yourselves killed, or you can give me your wands and wait patiently until he has time to deal with you. It should only take a few months."

"I'm speaking to him today," I said in a low voice. My eyes narrowed and my grip on my wand tightened. Maybe we were going to have to try fighting.

"Well, then, I guess it's time to die." Vane stepped back into what had nearly become a circle around us. They all had their wands drawn (I guess Stillens wasn't as scary if it was all going to be Vane's fault) and were slowly tightening in. The mood of the room had switched from nervous to menacing as quickly as James stopped swearing when Wren walked into the room.

Well... this wasn't what I'd planned. I felt bad that Wren was here with me, since it looked like this was the end. Maybe the history books weren't going to remember us as anything more than two stupid teenage girls who should've known better. Or we could be hailed as martyrs, I suppose. It was weirdly comforting that at least we'd be together in death, too. I still felt at peace about the decision to come up here. Maybe I'd always been meant to die at the hands of Stillens' forces. Maybe my life didn't matter as much as I thought it did.

One thing was for sure, though. If I was going to die today, I'd go down fighting.

Even with all these thoughts in my head, I found myself whispering, "Do you think we're going to die?"

Wren hesitated for only a moment. "Probably."

That settled it. If death was inevitable, "Then let's do it well."

~~~~

Today marks one of the two most important days of each year: the days when I am the same age as inked_depths. I thought we should celebrate this momentous occasion with an update!

Question of the Day: I want to know where you think I'd draw the line on killing characters. Or do you think I have a line at all?

Answer: I swear I do have a line I can't cross and if you knew the absolute agony I've had leading up to this, trying to figure out where exactly it is... It should comfort you to know that I've had to give up on a few ideas because they did cross that line, though.

Vote and comment!

~Elli

Word count: 4226