"Ella! Ella, come on, open up!"

Ravenna knocked on the door so hard her knuckles stung.

"Leave me alone!" came Ella's voice from inside, cracked and broken.

"Ella..." She sighed and leaned against the door. "Let us help you. We know what happened, just... Talk to us. Please?"

No response.

Ravenna turned around and shuffled back through the dormitory halls until she reached the exit of the building, where the boys of her class were waiting. Officially, after all, they weren't allowed in the women's dormitory building. Not that any of them had kept to that rule in the past few days. They'd all tried several times to get Ella to leave her room and talk to them. All with no success.

"Any luck?" Ezra asked as she emerged from the building. His back hunched and he had dark bags under his eyes. Ravenna was sure he'd slept as little as Ella had, ever since they found out what happened.

She shook her head. "Nothing yet. She keeps saying she wants to be alone."

"That's bullshite! It's been days! Fuck it, I'm going in. I don't care what she says." He pushed her aside and stormed into the building, straight towards Ella's room.

Ravenna, Dan and Willem stared after him.

"You think he'll manage this time?" Willem asked.

Ravenna scoffed. "Not a chance."

"D-Doesn't matter," said Dan. "Trying will make him feel better. With any luck, it'll make her feel a bit better, too."

They stood in awkward silence, leaning against the dormitory building as they waited. Further ahead, students trickled out of the main building of the school, on their way to magical creatures or herbology class. Their own class, potions, would start soon as well, but none of them made a move to go. Professor Scrimgeour would understand.

"D'you think she'll ever come back out?" said Willem suddenly.

Dan sighed. "Of course she will. She just needs time."

"I'm not sure I would. Merlin, her whole family... I don't know what I'd do if my parents were killed."

"Yeah," Ravenna agreed. "My dad's all I have left. I can't even imagine losing him. But at least he can defend himself. Aren't your parents muggles?"

"My dad is. Mum's a witch, though in all honesty, she lives pretty much like a muggle. What about your parents, Dan?"

"Purebloods. And not the good kind," said Dan darkly.

"You don't get along with them?" Willem asked, which didn't come as a surprise. Dan didn't talk about his family much. He only ever opened up about it when he was alone with Ravenna.

Dan grimaced, but she could see the true pain in his eyes. "The fact that I didn't get into Hogwarts because my magic is too weak, makes me a total d-disappointment in their eyes."

"Oh... That's —"

The door opened and a defeated Ezra came out. His shoulders sagged, his eyes teary.

Willem eagerly stepped forward. "What happened? Did you talk to her?"

"Yeah..." He pulled a hand through his black hair. "Yeah, I did. Still doesn't want to come out, though. She's... She..."

A lump formed in Ravenna's throat. "That bad, is it?"

Ezra nodded. "Merlin, I've never seen her like that. She just cried into my shoulder, couldn't even say a word. I didn't know what to say either, so I just held her. Merlin's balls, what they've done to her..."

"It's not right," Dan agreed. "If anyone deserves better, it's her."

"It's their fault." The thought of Ella, the kindest and happiest girl Ravenna had ever met, crying alone in her room ignited something deep inside her. Like a flame bursting to life. She could feel her magic awakening. "Those Death Eaters, they did this."

"Screw those bastards," said Ezra. "You should set your magic loose on them, Ravenna."

"Maybe we should turn him in," said Dan. "Alois. Tell the Ministry what he is."

Ravenna's heart jumped. It wasn't much, but if they could avenge Ella's family in some small way, perhaps that was a first small step in helping their friend come to grips with what happened. "Yeah. I could show them the letters and tell them he tried to lure in more of us."

"You'd only get yourself arrested as well, for mingling with that shit," Ezra muttered. "Besides, didn't you say he works at the Ministry? Paper pusher or not, who's gonna believe a bunch of Morgan le Fay students over a Ministry employee?"

"Well, we've got to do something!" Ravenna cried in frustration.

"We are." Dan laid a comforting hand on her arm. "We'll make sure we're here for Ella when she needs us."

It wasn't enough. Ravenna breathed in to respond, but no words found their way to her tongue. In the end, she growled in frustration and stomped off, leaving her classmates and her best friend behind. She could feel Dan's eyes on her back as she walked away, imploring her to stay behind with him, but she couldn't. Not when she felt so helpless and out of control.

As if they had a mind of their own, her feet took her to the forest that neighbored Morgan le Fay. Like a rabid dog, her unruly magic magic followed. She sunk against a tree trunk and wrapped her arm around her head in defeat. It wasn't long before her favourite creatures joined her.

Bowtruckles were simple creatures. Give them a nibble and they're fed for days. Give them a piece of paper and they'll play for hours. Ravenna loved watching them, as she sat cross-legged in the clearing of the forest that doubled as a magical creatures classroom. It made her feel calm, despite the rumbling of her magic around her. As if the rest of the world didn't matter that much anymore. If only for a little while.

She'd only just arrived when the four bowtruckles gathered around her, two of them sticking their twiggy little arms up towards her. She smiled and stuck her arms forward, palms up. Twix, the one with the squiggle in the bark of its body, was the first to react. He raced to her knee so fast he almost lost his footing, and proceeded to climb up, over her legs, up her side. He balanced across her arm, before lowering himself from the inside of her elbow and swinging back and forth.

Pickett wasn't much behind her brother (or friend — she'd asked, but even Professor Fauns didn't have a clue whether or not these bowtruckles were a family). The bowtruckle almost lost her balance as she sprinted across Ravenna's arm to roll around on the palm of her hand. The last two bowtruckles followed suit. Ravenna's chuckle was drowned out by the singing of birds not far away.

"I thought I'd keep you company, but I see you've got that sorted."

Ravenna jumped from the sudden voice behind her, making Twix lose his hold and fall to the ground. Luckily, the grass made it a soft drop. He jumped up to take his place again, but Ravenna lowered her arms as Dan sat down beside her.

"You didn't need to come."

"I know," said Dan.

Somehow, with Dan, she was never sure exactly what he meant. He had a tendency to come across as flirty to her, but she didn't think he meant to. After all, he never took it any further than that.

Not that she'd let him. She'd decided years ago that if he asked her out, she'd have to decline. Dan was her friend. He was more than a steady presence in her life, he was the one person who could make her laugh and saw the real Ravenna. The one person who believed in her.

She turned to face him, feeling like she'd drown in the ocean that was his eyes. He was too kind, too good of a person to be hurt by her magic. What if she let her guard down to lean in to let him in, and he ended up bleeding? The back of her throat burned with unshed tears. No. No matter what the consequences would be, she'd rather break his heart and lose him as a friend than accidentally hurt him with her magic.

She could live with a broken heart. She couldn't live with herself if she'd hurt Dan.

"You're b-blaming yourself again, aren't you?"

The magic around her immediately leaped to the foreground, like a shark smelling blood. She swallowed a snide remark, reminding herself that he was only trying to help. "I should never have gotten involved with him."

"No, you shouldn't. But that has nothing to do with what happened to Ella's family."

"Of course it does. They were killed by Death Eaters. Alois is a Death Eater." A wave of nausea overwhelmed her and she hid her face in her arms.

"That d-doesn't mean he had something to do with it." Dan laid a hand on her shoulder. So warm and comforting that she longed to be like everyone else. "We don't know if he was involved, Ravenna."

"But his friends were." Ravenna hesitated, staring at the bowtruckles that had found a pebble to play with. The thought of sitting with Alois in the Fae's Foot Inn left a bad taste on her tongue. "I can't believe I let him convince me. I would have joined him if I hadn't figured this out in time."

Dan flinched — but was it at her words or the magic that whirled around them like a storm, making leaves rustle and branches snap? She couldn't be sure. Even though she knew she shouldn't, Ravenna didn't shy away when Dan let his arm glide across her back to her other shoulder and pulled her against him.

"What am I supposed to do?"

"Stay away from him, Ravenna. Ignore him when he writes to you. Just... d-drop the whole thing."

"It's not enough," she muttered, looking up at him. "Ella's whole family is dead. I have to do something. I have to make it right."

"Little Raven, you don't have to be the one to solve all the world's problems."

Doubt set in, feeding her magic. The bowtruckles hid behind her legs. It clawed around, reaching out its vicious tendrils to the trees around her. To the bushes. It would continue to Dan, if she wasn't careful. Another snap of a breaking branch made her flinch.

"You shouldn't be here." Ravenna wrapped her arms tightly around her legs, attempting to force the power down. She stared at the bowtruckles, who'd turned to kicking the pebble around like a ball below her legs. Control it, she kept telling herself, over and over like a mantra. You have to control it. At least until he's far enough away.

"I think I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be."

Fear spiked in her chest. He wouldn't leave. As always, he'd stay by her side. If she couldn't get the magic under control.... "This isn't a joke, Dan! Why do you always do this? I keep telling you how dangerous I am, and you just ignore me!"

"I don't ignore you. I just... disagree."

Frustration flared up like a flame in her heart. Why wouldn't he listen? "Dan! Merlin, why won't you understand? I'm trying to keep you safe!"

"I know. And that's very sweet of you, but you don't need to do that."

Tears burned behind her eyes, and she gasped at the effort of squeezing the magic safely down. "I know you don't care if you got hurt, but do you know what it would do to me if I accidentally hurt you?"

"Do you know what it does to me to see you in pain like this?"

Ravenna's breath caught. She hadn't considered that before. It hurt him to see her scared of her own magic. Being together didn't just make it easier for her, it made things easier for both of them.

But was an eased mind really worth the danger her magic put him in?

"You're my best friend, Ravenna," Dan continued. "If I fled every time you struggled, what kind of friend would I be?"

"You'd be safe," she whispered. "That's all that matters."

He sighed. "I'm not leaving you, Ravenna."

Terror spiked in her chest. Her fear for her own power only fed the magic more. It roared like a crazed lion and lashed out, crashing against the tree they sat against. They jumped to their feet as the trunk creaked and twigs and branches crashed to the ground – right where they'd been sitting.

"Dan..." she begged him breathlessly.

He took her hand and squeezed, but his eyes were on the sharp, snapped branches that hung like nocked arrows in the air.

"I can't control it..."

"Yes, you c-can."

Like a giant fist, the magic slammed into the ground, making the world tremble around them. A cry escaped her. The bowtruckles finally fled.

"It's not going away! Dan, please..."

"You can do this, Ravenna. It's your magic. It listens to you."

"It does not!"

With another thunderous roar, three branch-arrows shot from their invisible bows. Before she had a chance to respond, Dan pulled her out of their trajectory and behind him, effectively shielding her with his own body.

"No!"

She felt him flinch as the arrows digged into the grassy ground with three muffled thuds.

"Damn it, why did you –" The words froze on her tongue when she saw the blood.

Vivid crimson blood seeped through a tear in his trouser leg. Ravenna watched him struggle to keep his face in check, but the pain won the battle. He grimaced and sunk down on the floor.

"I'm sorry." Her whispers sounded loud in the suddenly deafening silence. She took several large steps backwards. "I'm so sorry."

Dan groaned and whipped his wand out of his pocket. "It's fine, Ravenna. It's just a c-cut." He waved the wand over the wound and cast Episkey, the healing spell. It took him several tries, but eventually the edges of the wound crept closer to each other, finally knitting together to close the skin. He wiped the blood off his leg with his sleeve. "See? All good."

Her lower lip trembled as a wave of exhaustion crashed over her. She sunk to her knees, lowering her head into her hands. "I told you to leave. I told you I'd hurt you."

Dan was by her side immediately, pulling her hands down. "I'm fine. And you seem better as well."

He was right, she realised. Whether it was the exhaustion or the shock of hurting her best friend, the magic had finally quieted. It still rumbled in the background, but it wasn't in control anymore. She let out a shivering sigh.

"So that's what it takes, huh?" Dan quipped. "You just need to cut my leg open with an arrow, and you'll feel better? If you're angry with me, you could just say it, you know."

She could find the energy to laugh along with him. "I didn't mean to," she muttered again.

"I know. I'm only joking." He took her hands in his and helped her to her feet. "Let's head back to school. You look like you need to lie down for a while."