Persephone Avery hated large crowds. It was a hatred that her mother had passed down to her at an early age; Artemis Avery never hid her dislike of large groups of people, and neither had Persephone.

But somehow, she didn't hate Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. There was something almost relaxing about falling into the large groups of witches and wizards, all excited about going to Hogwarts, all hiding in a muggle-populated area behind a secret brick wall. It was almost exhilarating.

But Persephone's mother hated the Platform more than any other place. Even now, as they walked through Muggle families and businessmen who were holding briefcases, she was gritting her teeth. Persephone took her hand, and smiled at her mother.

"It'll be fine, Mum," she said confidently. "This year can't be anymore messed up than last year."

And Persephone believed. Last year, one of her Professors had turned into a werewolf, and that was after a murderer escaped from Azkaban and found a way inside Hogwarts. Dementors has occupied the grounds outside Hogwarts; the memory of them was enough to make Persephone shiver.

"Of course," she continued as she stepped around a crying toddler, "we do have Harry Potter at our school, so exams are bound to be cancelled. Maybe I won't even go to class."

"Persephone," her mother said, a mixture of sternness and weariness.

"Kidding," Persephone grinned. "But, you never know."

With that, Persephone walked straight into a brick wall with ease and fearlessness. She was greeted with the sight of a familiar scarlet train that was emitting large clouds of steam. And, standing a little bit away from the Weasley family, was a boy with dark, curly hair and an older woman, whose grey hair matched the boy's curls.

"Cassius!" Persephone shouted. He turned towards her and grinned.

"How many times are you going to write me this year?" asked Artemis as she walked onto the Platform. But as she saw Cassius walking towards them, she stiffened noticeably. Persephone frowned.

Her mother had always acted strange around Cassius. The first time she met him, after Persephone's First Year, her face had gone pale.

"Persephone, I need to talk to you," her mother said, her voice almost breathless.

But Cassius was there, an easy smile on his face. Persephone winked at him as he turned to face Artemis.

"Hello, Mrs. Avery," Cassius said, the epitome of polite. "Did you have a nice summer?"

"I did, thank you," Artemis responded, but the words were uneasy. "How was your summer, Cassius?"

He beamed. "Great! At least, until the Quidditch World Cup..." Cassius trailed off as he noticed Persephone shaking her head at him. "But I'm excited to go back to Hogwarts," he ended weakly.

Persephone watched as her mother's face turned stone cold. "That's what I want to talk to you about, Persephone."

Persephone groaned internally. "Save me a compartment," she said to Cassius gloomily before following her mother to an unoccupied corner of the platform.

Artemis, after looking around and deeming the area safe, leaned in close to her daughter. "You have to be careful this year," she whispered. "Something terrible is going to happen."

"More terrible than spending another year stuck in Snape's classroom?" Persephone drawled, unable to keep a smile from her face.

"This is important," Artemis said urgently. "There were Death Eaters at the Quidditch World Cup; they still haven't forgotten what your father and I did to cause the fall of the Dark Lord. If they get the chance, they will hurt you, Persephone. They will try to kill you."

"You've already told me this," said Persephone, crossing her arms over her chest. She tried to sound confident and undaunted, but uneasiness ate at her heart. Her mother was the strongest person that she knew; if she was this worried...something was wrong.

"I know, but it's important that you remember. Don't do anything stupid this year. Please. I'm not supposed to tell you this, but there's going to be a big event at Hogwarts this year, and it's going to bring trouble. I've tried contacting Dumbledore, but he won't return any of my owls. Not that I can blame him," she added with a sad smile, "but you have to tell him, if you can."

Persephone squirmed. "Mum, it's not like Dumbledore and I get manicures every Saturday. I've had maybe one conversation with him in the last five years, and that's being generous. He's not going to listen to whatever I say. I'm not Harry Potter."

"That's the other thing. Something terrible is going to happen, and it involves Harry Potter."

Persephone couldn't stop a snort from escaping her lips. Artemis glared at her.

"What?" she demanded. "It's not like I'd be surprised. Every bad thing that's happened has involved Harry in some way."

"Be serious for one minute, Persephone," Artemis said wearily. The train's horn released a long honk.

"I have to go, I'll miss the train," said Persephone, starting to walk towards it.

Artemis's hand gripped Persephone's shoulder. "Tell Dumbledore that if he doesn't stop this Tournament from happening, there's going to be a death."

Persephone could only stare at her mother, whose hazel eyes were filled with concern, urgency, and another emotion that she couldn't recognize.

"That's a big accusation to make," Persephone said slowly.

"Tell Professor McGonagall or Madam Pomfrey to remember my sixth year," continued Artemis. "Tell them this is why I fainted during detention. And then, tell McGonagall to write to me. I'll tell her everything; Dumbledore listens to her."

Persephone was itching to ask her mother how many times she had received detention, but something told her that this wasn't the time.

"I really have to go, Mum," she said, slowly backing away. "I'll do everything you said, I promise!"

Then, she gave her mother a fleeting hug before sprinting to the train. Persephone jumped on just before it rolled forwards, and pulled out of the station.

"Merlin's Beard, she's going to be the death of me," Persephone muttered as she walked down the corridor, searching for Cassius. After passing four compartments, she found him, sitting alone.

"There you are," said Cassius, setting down the book that he had been reading. "I was beginning to think that you missed the train."

"I almost did," Persephone said, collapsing on the seat across from him.

Cassius leaned towards her. "What did your mother want?"

Persephone opened her mouth to tell him, but she hesitated. This was something big, something that her mother had wanted her to tell Dumbledore. But it sounded insane. Would Cassius even believe her?

"Just the normal stuff," she lied. "You know, 'don't forget to write' and 'did you pack everything?'. Just like every year."

Satisfied with the answer, Cassius picked up his book again and resumed reading. But Persephone's focus was elsewhere.

It wasn't until her mother had seen Cassius that she told Persephone all of this. And someone could die...

But Cassius wouldn't die. It was crazy to think that he would. Persephone shook her head, attempting to shake the dark thoughts out.

"You alright?" Cassius asked as he tried to hide a small smile.

"Never better," Persephone responded brightly. "It's time to place our bet: how long will it take Harry Potter to do something stupid this year?"

As Slytherin, they had taken it as a personal injustice when they won the House Cup only for Dumbledore to give Gryffindor enough points at the last second for them to win. Since then, Persephone and Cassius had begun to place bets on how many months it would take for Harry Potter to do something stupid, then have Dumbledore let him get away, often rewarding him.

"How long was it last year?" asked Cassius.

"Well, he blew up his aunt before the term even started, so I don't know what that counts for. But he was there when Lupin turned into a werewolf, and he was the one Black was after, but that was ongoing through the year. But I won because I said October, and that was when Black tried to break into the Gryffindor Common Room."

Cassius groaned. "I said November. Black just had to break in the day before November. Alright, this year, I say Oct —"

"I bet October or before," Persephone interrupted with a grin.

His mouth fell open. "You little cheater," he said, throwing his book at her.

Persephone dodged it, laughing. "I'm going to win again, Cassius. Have fun with November."

"I know where you can stick your November," Cassius said, sticking out his tongue at her.

And just like that, all the worries that the conversation with her mother had given Persephone vanished without a trace. What was there to worry about? She was going back to Hogwarts with Cassius. And as he smiled at Persephone, she suddenly knew that everything was going to be fine.

•••

-IF THERE'S A LIGHT AT THE END
IT'S JUST THE SUN IN YOUR EYES-
[ young god / halsey ]