The Scars to Prove It

“Where should we go now?”

“Seventh floor? That’s the only floor we haven’t tried to hide on yet.”

“They’ll find us as soon—wait, here they come!”

Farren and Carina held their breath and watched the twins careen into the library from their place behind a statue. As soon as Fred and George turned a corner and were out of sight, the pair was sprinting out of the library, robes flying behind them, bags clutched in their arms.

Without any more discussion, they both ran in the direction of the seventh floor, up the four flights of stairs from the library. Other students wisely got out of the way as the girls tore up the stairs. Farren and Carina leapt over the trick stairs with ease born of practice, not daring to look back until they reached the seventh level.

Fred and George still had the Marauder’s Map, so the girls were at a disadvantage. Their strategy so far had been to move about in the library until the twins entered, and then flee to whatever part of the castle they had decided upon. They gained a few moments while the twins scoured the library without the map; they didn’t dare bring it out in the vicinity of Madam Pince for fear it would be snatched. They just had to find a place to hide before the twins finished looking through the library.

The duo arrived panting on the seventh floor, searching for a place to hide. Spying a door in the right hand corridor across of a hideous tapestry, Carina grabbed her friend’s hand and all but dragged her through it. Only when they door was closed did they turn to study the room they had chosen to hide in.

The aforementioned room was about the size of the common room, with similarly colored hangings. A row of bookshelves covered two walls and in the corner sat a desk. The rest of the room was empty aside from the broom leaning in the opposite corner.

“Brilliant,” exclaimed Farren as she caught sight of the broom. Tossing her bag into the corner with the desk, she examined the broom eagerly. Carina, on the other hand, took advantage of the desk and sat down to study for exams.

“Farren,” she said, “you really should be revising.”

“We aren’t going to have exams. How could we with all that has been going on? And what about the students in the hospital wing?” Farren asked as she spun the broom in her arms.

“I seriously doubt that exams will be canceled for all of us when only a few students were petrified,” replied Carina, shaking her head as her friend did little loops on the broom.

“That isn’t important. Right now, we need to worry about only one thing: how long till the demon twins find us again?”

“Well, they should be just about done with the library. With the map, they’ll be upon us any moment now.”

Farren froze in midair. “Carina, I don’t think this room is on the map.”

“That’s rubbish. Of course it’s on the map. Every room in the castle in on the map.”

Farren didn’t look convinced, but continued flying, content to wait until the twins found them again. It had been awhile since she had been on a broom. Quidditch had been canceled when Hermione was petrified, and although the beast was now slain, Quidditch hadn’t resumed. To say Oliver was disappointed would be an understatement.

Understandably, Oliver had been distant lately. They hadn't spent much time together, and when they did they were surrounded by their friends. Farren was almost grateful for that. As much as she liked Oliver, and she did like him, it was hard to be happy and cheerful when she couldn't stop thinking about her mum. Oliver seemed to understand, and didn't press her. He was similarly distracted, already formulating plans to win the cup next year, his last year.

While Oliver had been planing for the coming year, Fred and George had been working on not letting the girls in their life out of their sight. They escorted them to meals and classes, and kept tabs on them during free time. As such, Farren, Carina and Ginny had been forced to use creative means to escape. Ginny, however, didn't know about the map, and after being found in all of her attempts to hide finally retreated to her dormitory.

Time passed quickly while they were in the room, and soon they began to relax thinking that the twins had become distracted by Ginny. But as much as Farren and Carina were enjoying spending time without being harassed, the End-of-Year feast was that night. So they left and made their way back to the common room, and they didn’t notice the door melt away behind them.



Of course, their peace wouldn’t last very long.

“Where have you two been?!?”

“You vanished off of the map!”

“You could’ve been kidnapped!”

“You could have died!!!”

Fred and George accosted them the moment they entered the common room. The girls simply rolled their eyes and muscled their way through to the dormitory.



The twins were still flooding them with questions when the girls sat down for the feast. Finally, Farren had enough.

“Do you think we’re actually going to tell you where we hid?”

“But what if you’re in danger?” whined George.

“George Weasley, even if there was any danger in the castle, which there isn’t anymore, Farren and I are perfectly capable of looking after ourselves. Being followed is just annoying.”

Fred opened his mouth to protest, but Farren shot him a look. The twins sat in shocked silence for a moment, but soon the entire hall was awash with noise. The previously petrified students were making their way back into the hall to lots of cheering. They all sat, and Dumbledore, after a glance to the empty chair where Hagrid was usually seated, began the feast with an announcement that exams were cancelled.

Hermione looked devastated, and Carina sighed, glancing at Farren who mouthed “I told you.”

Midway through the feast, the hall doors opened to reveal a harried looking groundskeeper. He walked through the tables and stopped to speak with Harry, Ron and Hermione. The rest of the hall was silent. Harry got up and hugged the huge man as best he could, followed by Ron and Hermione. Lee began to clap. Soon the rest of Gryffindor was on their feet clapping, and the rest of the hall followed. Farren would have sworn she saw a tear in Hagrid’s eye.



After the feast, everyone returned to the common room in a content haze. Conversation flowed easily late into the night, fueled by full bellies and the lack of exams. Eventually, everyone collapsed into their beds, and silence ruled the tower.

Farren was woken in the middle of the night by a hand on her shoulder. The bed curtains were drawn back, and she blinked sleepily as Professor McGonagall came into focus. As she noticed the pity in her professor’s eyes, the tense line of her mouth, Farren’s heart dropped. She knew what the answer would be, but she couldn’t stop the question falling from her lips.

“Is my mum alright?”

McGonagall’s head shook minutely and Farren let out a shaky breath, but there were no tears, not yet. Instead, she got up from the bed and searched for the bag she used last time she had to leave in the middle of the night. She packed on autopilot; her mind was reeling. Was her mother dying? Dead? She wanted to know, needed to know, but was too afraid to ask. She didn’t want to know the answer. If she knew, she would break down, and she couldn’t. She needed to get home, get to her dad. So she clung to the smallest thread of hope.

Her favorite professor hovered by the door as she finished packing. She turned to leave and caught sight of her friend, still sleeping. Turning back to rummage through her bag, she pulled out a quill and bit of parchment. She wrote quickly, cringing as the scratch sounded through the dormitory. She placed the paper on Carina’s nightstand, and then she was gone.