Prologue
Loud voices filter through the thin walls of Willow Creek cottage from the overcrowded kitchen. It’s not unusual for the small cottage to be filled with noise - eight people living in a space meant for two means constant noise and no privacy. But this noise is different. It’s not the sound of laughter as friends cook dinner or even the sounds of arguing over living on top of one another. No, this is the sound of anxiety and anguish about what to do to find an end to this never ending war.
Casting a quick silencing charm on the bedroom door, Carina crept down the short hall towards the kitchen. Pausing for a moment in the shadows.
“We need to go out looking for them! They would’ve made contact by now if they were somewhere safe.” Parvati yells for what seems like the thousandth time.
“If we start wandering the woods aimlessly, we’re not going to be doing anything but putting ourselves in danger.” Hannah says in a calmer voice. “We need to stick with the plan.”
“We wait for them to make contact and then we’ll extract them from wherever they are.” Ron declares.
“It could be too late by then!” Parvati cries out.
“What we need to focus on now is getting ingredients for a new brew.” Hannah says.
“What do you expect us to do? Pop down to the local apothecary and do some shopping?” Ginny snaps.
“Of course not! We’ll have to do what we did last time.” Hannah scoffs. “Not that you were here for that part.
“Charlie should be able to find us a lead on the dragon claw.” Fred offers.
“It doesn’t matter! We don’t have time to rebrew the potion.” Hermione huffs out. “It takes 2 months to brew. We can’t wait that long.”
“Ginny isn’t going alone.” Ron yells. “I won’t allow it.”
“You’re not in charge of me, so stop acting like it!” Ginny yells back.
Once again, everyone was yelling over one another, not listening to what anyone else was saying. Talking but never listening - typical in a house overflowing with Gryffindors. One could only hope the next safe house would have a better balance.
“I’ll go.” Carina Black spoke for the first time breaking the loud clamoring, emerging from the dark hall into the kitchen. The house fell silent for the first time in what felt like hours. The lone Slytherin has become used to this reaction as the weeks have dragged on. One would imagine being Neville’s soulmate would allow them to trust her some. Or all of the help she’s provided the DA during their seventh year, and the Order since graduating would gain her some acceptance. Of course many of these people weren’t at Hogwarts by that point and only see her as the Snake Queen.
The first time she entered an Order safe house, following the failed battle at Hogwarts, Ron almost took her head off. It was only Hannah’s quick hand that was able to throw up a protective spell in time to prevent any real damage.
“No.” Ron’s firm voice is the first to break the silence.
“What other choice is there? The potion has already been tailored to Neville and he’s still bedridden.”
“Exactly. We can wait for Neville to heal and he can still go. There was a reason he was picked to begin with.” Ron declares as some sort of de facto leader.
“What part of Daphne’s message was confusing to you? We’re running out of time. It’s now or never.” Carina snaps.
Daphne’s patronus had shown up earlier that evening warning of impending raids on Order safe houses. During a fight four nights ago an Order member was captured and the location of one of the larger safe houses was revealed. Willow Creek cottage, where the group currently was, was not an official Order safe house. Rather a vacation cottage owned by the Thomas family. Its proximity to Lough Hyne being the reason it was chosen to brew the potion at. The magical properties of the bioluminescent water were important for the ritual.
“She’s right.” Ginny speaks up, moving to tentatively stand beside Carina by the kitchen table. “It could be only a matter of hours, possibly minutes until this safe house is compromised too.”
“We don’t know that Dean was captured.” Hannah points out.
“And we don’t know if he escaped either.” Ginny solemnly points out. “We’ll have no way to know until he attempts to make contact.”
“How do we know the potion will work for you? It was laid out very clearly that it must be tailored specifically to each individual and that it will only work for them.” Hermione asks.
“It was tailored to Neville’s magical core. We share the same core now, ergo it should work for me.” Carina reasons. “This mission is too important to leave it all on Ginny’s shoulders alone. And it's too important to delay any further.”
“The longer we wait, the greater the risk is that someone will find out what we’re trying to do.” Ginny adds. “We should perform the ritual tonight. As planned.”
Midnight was only 45 minutes away yet the time seemed to drag on for hours. The group slowly began getting everything ready for the ritual. Fred and Ron gathered the necessities and went to the lake to set up for the ritual. Hermione triple checked the potion compared to the description in the ritual book. Parvati and Hannah reinforce the wards surrounding the cottage. Ginny and Carina did the expected meditation in preparation for the ritual.
Carina took one last moment to herself silently slipping back into the bedroom where Neville lay asleep on the bed. Taking in his pale face, Carina knows it's the right choice to go in Neville’s place. She’d been there when they first found the ritual and formed the plan.
Travel back to third year. Turn Pettigrew into the Ministry, preventing him from returning to Voldemort's side. Find and destroy the remaining horcrux. They knew where each horcrux was in 1993 and could use their relatively unguarded nature to their advantage.
“I’ll see you again soon, love.” Carina whispers, pushing Neville’s hair off his forehead and leaving a soft kiss. With one last glance, she leaves the room allowing the door to click closed before her.
A circle of candles has been set up on the edge of the shore, half on land and half floating above the lake. Herminone has already lit the incense by the time Carina arrives at the cliff. Ginny has already removed her shoes and is standing at the edge of the cliff next to the candles. Carina quickly follows suit and joins her.
Hermione silently hands Ginny the silver ritual dagger. With a quick slice of her palm, Ginny walks the perimeter of the semi circle allowing her blood to drop along her path. Once she’s finished she drinks the potion then steps into the circle. The flames on the candles flare.
Carina follows suit and does the same - allowing her blood to coat the perimeter before drinking the potion. It tastes bitter in her mouth, but she swallows it all.
Carina joins Ginny in the center of the circle at the edge of the cliff. Raising their palms, they join their hands together. A swirl of golden light encompasses their hands for a brief moment before fading away. The flames grow larger, turning blue.
Hermione, Ron, and Fred standing at the edges of the circle begin the accompanying chant. Ginny squeezes Carina’s hand one last time. Together the duo take the leap of faith and dive into the bioluminescent lake.