Well, that threw a spanner in the works.

Very quickly, they worked out a plan. Snape had apparently called all students in the school to an assembly in the great hall, and Cassia and Harry were going to dress up in Hogwarts robes and attend, disguised amongst the crowd with most of the other DA members. Harry had originally been going alone, but Cassia had refused to not go with him.

Neville, Poppy, Ron and Hermione were going to wait for the Order, who were coming in through the Hog's Head secret passage. They'd then organise themselves and stand outside the great hall, awaiting Harry and Cassia's signal.

So, as the students marched into the hall, Cassia and Harry were amongst the Gryffindor ones, amongst most of the DA, begging that they did not stand out as they stood in the crowd, fingers intertwined and palms pressed tightly against each other.

Harry squeezed her hand twice and Cassia squeezed back once as Snape entered the hall, striding down the aisle between the people and coming to a stop at the top of the hall, his robes almost flying behind him. The Carrows were, strangely, nowhere to be seen.

Snape stood up above them, right where Dumbledore used to stand, addressing them all.

"Many of you are surely wondering why I have summoned you at this hour," he said, his voice monotone yet serious. "It has come to my attention, that earlier this evening, Harry Potter was sighted in Hogsmeade."

There was a spattering of whispers all around the hall, and Cassia inhaled sharply, squeezing Harry's hand tighter.

"Now," Snape said, causing silence to fall. "Should anyone, student or staff-" Cassia noticed McGonagall stood off to the side, looking hopeless "-attempt to aid Mr Potter, they will be punished, in a manner consistent with the severity of their transgression."

Cassia's heart was hammering against her ribs.

"Furthermore," Snape added. "Any person found to have knowledge of these events, who fails to come forward, will be treated as... equally guilty."

I love you, Cassia wanted to say to Harry, just like she did back inside the Hog's Head. I love you so much.

"Now then," Snape continued, slowly walking down off his pedestal and into the groups of students, eyes trailing over them. "If anyone here has any knowledge of Mr Potter's movements this evening, I invite them to step forward... now."

For about five seconds, everything was silent. No body moved, no body made a sound.

Then two people walked out.

The gasp was instantaneous, and so were the head turns. Cassia wished she could take a picture of the shocked look on Snape's face, as she and Harry faced him, hands still held tightly.

"It seems, despite your exhaustive defensive strategies, you still have a bit of a security problem, headmaster," Harry announced, the doors opening behind him and Cassia to reveal Neville, Poppy, Ron, Hermione, Lupin, Pippa, Tonks, Kingsley, Arthur, Molly, Fred, George, Bill, Fleur, and countless others. The whole order was there. "And it appears to be quite extensive."

"How dare you stand where he stood," Cassia took over, snarling at the man. Then she was yelling. "Tell them how it happened that night! Tell them how you looked him in the eye, a man that TRUSTED you, and KILLED him! Tell them!"

Snape just stared at her, then he raised his wand.

All at once, the students got out the way, but Harry and Cassia both raised their wands, eager to duel Snape.

McGonagall didn't give them the chance to. She swooped in, shoving Harry and Cassia to the side and raised her own wand at Snape, who hesitated. However, he made it clear he was in.

McGonagall wasted no time, shooting fire at Snape. He deflected it, letting her shoot another burst of flames. Again, deflected. Cassia watched as they dueled, blocking and defending and dodging, until Snape transformed into a line of black smoke, and flew away, breaking a hole in the glass window at the end of the hall.

"COWARD!" McGonagall yelled after him, but there was no doubt that she won. The students clapped and cheered for her as she turned, lighting all the torches along the walls and letting the students whoop and cheer. Harry joined her at the front, but he wasn't smiling. Cassia, meanwhile, was at the back of the hall, with Poppy and Neville and the rest of the order.

"Harry..."

The whisper was loud, and hissing, and cold. Cassia found herself wincing as she heard it, because it was undoubtedly Voldemort's voice.

And he was using a whisper to address everybody.

Cassia frowned, trying to get through the crowd to find Harry, who she'd lost, put not managing. Everyone seemed to have stopped, staring up at the ceiling, waiting for the next whisper.

It came then.

"I know that many of you may want to fight," it hissed, malevolent and echoing. "Some of you may even think that to fight... is wise. But this is folly... folly... folly..."

"Let me through," Cassia hissed to people, shoving against them to try and get to Harry. "Let me-"

"Give me Harry Potter," the whisper demanded. "And none shall be harmed. Give me Harry Potter... and I shall leave Hogwarts untouched. Give me Harry Potter... and you will be rewarded."

Cassia saw Harry in the crowd, standing in the middle of a circle of people, no one near him. She fought harder to get to him, she needed to get to him-

"You have one hour."

As everything faded back into silence, all the students stared at Harry. Cassia was also stood in the crowd, at the very edge, not wanting to run to him now everyone was watching.

"What are you waiting for?" Pansy Parkinson suddenly yelled from the Slytherin crowd, where Cassia spotted Draco standing, not looking at her. "Someone grab him!"

"You'll have to kill me first, you bitch!" Cassia yelled, darting forwards to cover Harry. Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Poppy, Neville, and soon the whole order surrounded him, protecting him.

"Students out of bed! Students in the corridors!"

Then Filch was running in, past the huge group of people and straight to McGonagall. "Students out of-"

"They are supposed to be out of bed, you blithering idiot!" McGonagall shouted back.

Filch stopped. "Oh. Sorry, ma'am."

But McGonagall stopped him as he turned. "As it happens, Mr Filch, your arrival is most opportune. If you would, I would like you, please, escort Miss Parkinson and the rest of Slytherin house from the hall!"

"Oh, right, where is it I'll be taking them to, miss?" Filch asked.

"The dungeons would do," McGonagall replied.

There was a huge clap, but Cassia didn't have time to do anything as Harry dragged her forwards, both of them going to McGonagall.

"I presume you two have a reason for returning, what is it you need?" McGonagall asked.

"Time, professor, as much as you can give us," Harry replied honestly.

McGonagall nodded. "Do what you have to do. I'll secure the castle."

They both nodded, turning round.

"Mr Potter, Miss Malfoy?"

Both of them nodded, turning round.

"Yes, Professor?"

McGonagall smiled. "It's good to see you."

Harry smiled back. "It's good to see you too, professor."

They turned back to Neville and Poppy, Cassia saying. "You two good to hold the fort?"

Poppy grinned. "Always. You go do whatever it is you're doing."

Cassia hugged her tightly before they ran off, knowing that could possibly be the last time they ever saw each other.

The corridors and stairs were a mix of students running to get away and running to join the fight. Cassia and Harry held hands and ran up the stairs past them, Ron and Hermione following them.

"Harry! Cassia!" Ron called to them, causing all four of them to stop on the stairs. "Hermione and I have been thinking. It doesn't matter if we find a horcrux."

"What?" Cassia frowned.

"Unless we can destroy it!" Hermione added.

"So we were thinking-" Ron started.

"Well actually Ron was thinking, it's Ron's idea, it's completely brilliant," Hermione motor-mouthed, her cheeks flushing. Cassia smirked slightly as Ron spoke to Harry.

"You destroyed Tom Riddle's diary with a basilisk fang, right?"

"Yeah," Harry nodded.

"Well, me and Hermione think we know where we might find one," Ron sighed.

"Okay," Harry nodded, handing them the Marauders Map. "But take this. That way you'll be able to find us when you get back."

He gripped Cassia's hand, dragging her on.

"Where are you two going?" Hermione cried after them.

"Ravenclaw common room - gotta start somewhere!" Harry called back.

They ran off up the stairs, on the way to the common room. They didn't notice Luna Lovegood calling their names until they were on the spiral stairs, dodging students left and right.

"Harry! Cassia! Wait, I need to talk to you!"

"We're a bit preoccupied at the moment, Luna!" Harry replied, trying to be nice but sort of failing.

Luna tried desperately. "You won't find anything where you're going, you're wasting your time!"

"Look, we'll talk later, Luna, okay?" Cassia told the girl, running further up-

"Harry Potter and Cassia Malfoy, you listen to me right now!" Luna yelled, her pitch high and her volume loud. Harry and Cassia turned to her, a bit shocked, as she spoke softly again.

"Didn't you hear what Cho said about Ravenclaw's diadem?" She asked. "There isn't a person alive who's seen it."

Harry and Cassia stared at her, very confused.

"Isn't it obvious?" Luna shrugged. "You have to talk to someone who's dead."

Curse you, Luna Lovegood, you're so intelligent.

❦︎❦︎❦︎

"If you're to find her, you'll find her down there."

Luna was taking them to go and see the ghost of Ravenclaw tower. She was called the Grey Lady, and she was Rowena's daughter, Helena.

They were walking along a corridor right now, Luna behind them, watching the protection spells the teachers were casting forming a shield around the school.

"Go on," Luna told the two of them, gesturing down the corridor.

"You're not coming?" Cassia asked.

"No, I think it's best if you two go alone, she's very shy," Luna told them.

They nodded, hands intertwining again as they walked along, finally getting a moment of peace.

"We're not handing you over," Cassia murmured. "Not now, not ever, Potter. I'm not losing you."

"If we can't find this, you might have to hand me over," Harry told her.

"No," Cassia shook her head. "I meant what I said in there. Voldemort'll have to hit me with a killing curse before he even thinks of doing anything to you."

Harry didn't get a chance to reply, because they had reached the end of the corridor, where a ghost was floating.

She was the ghost of a very beautiful woman. She had long brown hair, doe eyes, and a nice dress on. She wasn't like Nearly Headless Nick, her cause of death wasn't obvious.

"You're the Grey Lady," Harry breathed, looking up at her. "The ghost of Ravenclaw tower."

Her face went sour and she floated across the room, telling them. "I do not answer to that name."

"No, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Harry immediately said. "It's Helena, isn't it? Helena Ravenclaw? Rowena's daughter."

"Are you two friends of Luna's?" She asked.

"Yes," Cassia nodded. "She thought you might be able to help us."

She looked at them for about one second before saying. "You seek my mother's diadem."

Harry didn't try to lie to her. "Yes. That's right."

The Grey Lady looked very indifferent for a moment, and then her face changed. "Luna is kind, unlike so many of the others. But he was wrong. I cannot help you!"

She floated past them again, out the window.

"Wait, please!" Harry said, running over to the edge of the corridor and leaning out. "I want to destroy it!"

That got her turning round.

However, she just floated further away from them, causing the two of them to run along the corridor, trying to get to her.

"That's what you want, isn't it Helena?" Cassia asked. "You want it destroyed?"

She looked at them, shaking her head. "Another swore to destroy it many years ago
A strange boy with a strange name."

Cassia nodded. "Tom Riddle."

"But he lied," Helena's voice was cold.

Harry spoke sympathetically. "He's lied to many people-"

And then she was up in their face and her teeth were bared and her voice was raised and she was screaming. "I KNOW WHAT HE IS! I KNOW WHAT HE'S DONE! HE DEFILED IT! WITH DARK MAGIC!"

Cassia and Harry both stepped back as she composed herself, flying round and back in to meet them in the corridor. But when they came round, she wasn't facing them.

"I can destroy it, once and for all," Harry said desperately. "But I need you to tell me where he hid it."

"You do know where he hid it, don't you, Helena?" Cassia added. "You just have to tell us. Please."

Slowly, she turned round, her eyes slightly teary. She floated around the two of them, behind them when she said. "It's here. In the castle. In the place where everything is hidden. If you have to ask, you'll never know. If you know... you need only ask."

Cassia came to the realisation before Harry. Gasping with wide eyes, she looked up at the ghost, breathing. "Thank you."

Harry frowned. "Wait, Cass-"

"Thank you so much!" Cassia said, dragging Harry off.

"Cassia, where-?" Harry asked.

"Room of Requirement!" Cassia yelled. "The place where everything is hidden! The place Draco and I fixed that fucking cabinet in last year!"

Harry's eyes widened and soon, he was running along next to her, back out the corridor and down the stairs.

The battle had clearly begun by the time they got back out into the corridors. Spells were being shot about everywhere and students were either screaming, running and fighting.

"Stupefy!" Cassia screamed at a death eater they ran into, before running off, up to the seventh floor where the Room of Requirement was.

The corridor up there was weirdly quiet, given that all students were running down. Cassia and Harry were panting as they sprinted down it, their hands still pressed together-

"Well, well, well. Look what we have here."

Cassia drew herself to a stop quicker than anything. Her whole body locked up and her eyes widened. She could feel her heart beating faster, and her breathing start to quicken. But she couldn't panic, she couldn't-

She couldn't lose everything just because Amycus Carrow was standing in front of her.

"Miss Malfoy, what a surprise," he said with a stomach curdling smirk. "We were... worried about you, when you didn't show up this term."

Cassia swallowed, still holding Harry's hand tightly. "Yeah, right."

Amycus raised his eyebrows. "I hope that's not insolence I'm hearing? You wouldn't want to be caught being a bad girl, now, would you?"

Cassia tensed.

"Don't talk to her like that," Harry snapped loudly. "And get away from her."

"Ah, Mr Potter, I don't believe we've met," Amycus smirked at him. "I presume you've heard about Miss Malfoy's insolence, however."

"I said, get away," Harry snarled. "I know what you did to her."

"Haven't you learned she's a compulsive liar by now?" Amycus said lazily. "I don't know what stories she's spun to tell you, but-"

"I haven't spun anything," Cassia spoke loudly, making herself look him in the eye. "You tortured me, and made me torture others, including my best friend. You turned the whole school into a prison. And you assaulted me."

"Is that what you've been telling everyone?" Amycus chuckled. "Well, Miss Malfoy, I knew you were naughty, but-"

"You assaulted me, and had I not escaped, you would've raped me," Cassia shook her head, gripping her wand with the hand that wasn't holding Harry's.

"Oh, Miss Malfoy," Amycus chuckled. "After all this time, you still haven't learned... naughty girls have to face their punishments."

But before he could even draw his wand, Cassia was firing the spell at him.

"Crucio!"

She'd crucioed Amycus before, in DADA when she was supposed to be crucioing Sophia. But that hadn't felt as good as this, because back then, she knew she'd have to face a punishment. Right now, she wasn't getting punished.

"Crucio!" She yelled again, after the firsy curse ended.

She didn't even feel any pain, watching Amycus writhe and struggle and scream. She stood up straight, shoulders back, and just watched. She didn't exactly feel accomplished, either, it was more... satisfied.

But Cassia needed to feel satisfied.

"Don't fucking beg for mercy," she snapped at him, after putting the curse on for a third time. "You enjoy this, remember? This is what you teach students to do."

Harry was just stood next to her, not saying a word, but secretly very proud of her. She'd been beaten down so hard in these past two years, and he was glad she was finally starting to heal.

"Cass," he said, after the fourth curse. "We need to go."

"Just count yourself fucking lucky I don't have time to stick around!" Cassia screamed, hitting him with the final curse. "Petrificus totalus!"

She didn't see Amycus' muscles lock up and his body go straight.

But oh fuck, she wished she did.