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grishaversecommunityyy · 3 years

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The Grishaverse Ship Survey Results

So! After all of that, we finally have the results! What is the general opinion on the ships in the Grishaverse? Well, that’s for you to read below! It’s actually pretty interesting and, while some parts make sense, there were definitely some parts which... surprised me... Anyway, onto the results!

Everything in this post can be split into:

The Grisha Trilogy

Six Of Crows Duology

The Nikolai Series

Shadow and Bone: TV Series

Most Enjoyed Ships

Least Enjoyed Ships

Crack Ships and Shipping Discourse

Notes from the Survey

(note from mod emily: i tried to bold all of fritz’ comments, but i might have missed a few! be aware there are two of us analysing here :))

The Grisha Trilogy

The first book series we asked about was, of course, the first chronologically: the Grisha Trilogy. The most popular ship, with 83% voters for this series selecting this, was Genya/David (Fritz was glad to hear that; Yes I am). This is likely due to the lack of alternate romantic interests in the series, which seems to be a major issue for Alina’s ships. It also seems to be one genuinely enjoyed by most fans, in contrast to Darkling/Alina and Mal/Alina (each around 30%) and Nikolai/Alina (just under 20%), for which I have definitely seen plenty of debate. The second and third most popular ships for this series were Tamar/Nadia (55%) and Nikolai/Zoya (47%). Interestingly, Genya/Alina (43%) and Zoya/Alina (30%) ranked surprisingly high, especially considering how few of my friends and associates I hear talking about them. Good for them!

Honourable mentions:

Alina/Sun (no doubt inspired by that crack fic I wrote a while back) (Still havent read that out of fear)

Alina alone (a common concept among those surveyed, though most mentioned it later)

Zoya/Genya or Alina/Zoya/Genya

Six Of Crows Duology

This series was a little less divided, I would say. Predictably, Kaz/Inej came out on top with a whopping 96% of voters (:relieved:), with Wylan/Jesper next (90%) and Nina/Matthias just after (83%). None of the others really came close, despite Nina/Inej gathering 35% of the votes and Colm/Aditi at 25% (yeah, I’m not sure why that was so popular on AO3 either, but nobody really has objections so I assume that’s why it amassed so many votes). As Six of Crows is decidedly less divisive about ships and doesn’t have such controversial ships (more on that later), it seems the fandom agrees with canon pairings and the votes are... pretty unanimous.

Honourable Mentions:

Jesper/Wylan/Kuwei

Polycrows (platonic or romantic)

Kaz/Inej/Nina

Whoever didn’t read the instruction about this being for only the book series and put Jesper/Milo. I will never escape.

The Nikolai Series

This one is a little harder for me because I actually haven’t read this... so over to Fritz for analysis! But first, the stats. At 85%, the most popular ship is Genya/David, followed by Zoya/Nikolai at 77%. Tamar/Nadia and Nina/Hanne draw at 61.5% and Nina/Matthias has 56% voters onboard. There’s no real honourable mentions for this one, sadly. Hello Fritz here! Read the books and very glad to see Genya/David as the top ship as it damn well should. Although still a bit surprising since its more of a side-arc of the two and only ties in with the importance of the story at a specific chapter that I feel like I don’t need to elaborate about, if you read Rule of Wolves. (I believe the popularity of the ship also sky-rocketed due to ROW) Following of course Zoya/Nikolai, the high ranking makes sense, it is the main ship and lets be honest they deserve it <3

I think the only really surprising thing about this is the high votes for Nina/Matthias since [SPOILERS CROOKED KINGDOM] he’s dead so I feel like people should move on from that. Nina/“Hanne” having not as high a ranking as I would’ve thought, but with Matthias still being in the frame I guess we shouldn’t be surprised either.

Shadow and Bone: TV Series

This one is really interesting, with the exclusive show watchers now taking part! We have 89% voting for Kaz/Inej, 76% for David/Genya, 71% for Matthias/Nina, 67% for Ivan/Fedyor (that’s a thing???-->Yeah they had a few somewhat sweet interactions in the background-->nvm i watched it you’re right fritz) and 62% for Mal/Alina. What’s really surprising is how high Malina is compared to Darklina, with Darkling/Alina at 36%. Who knows, maybe Fritz’ analysis can shed some light on this?

Yes yes Fritz to the rescue: First of all we have to see their interactions a little different from what we already knew of them by the end of episode 8. I still think it is a surprising number, since the Darkling in the show isn’t as nasty as he was in the books BUT over all his actions are now seen on TV. We all thought the deer antlers were a necklace amirite? Well no apparently not, the darkling used the worst kind of small science to fit Alinas collarbone to the bone and out comes a gruesome sight: a reason why many people might have started thinking: Wow what a disgusting person he is. And on the Malina “ship”: Mal finally has personality!! jkjk :eyes: Mals and Alinas friendship has been portrayed way better in the show and I believe that the people noticed more chemistry between them especially by the end of season 1. So I’m still a little surprised Darklina has such a low ranking (what with him being all sweet and cuddly in the middle of the show) but it makes sense and the Malina ship as well. Their vibes are just *chefs kiss* and thats coming from someone who didnt even like any of these “ships” <3

Loving the quotation marks for the word ‘ships’, Fritz. Over to the honourable mentions!

Honourable Mentions:

Jesper and Milo (isn’t milo a goat? guys, why?)

Nadia/Marie (huh that didn’t appear anywhere else)

One person had several - Kaz/Inej/Jesper, Dubrov/Mikhael, Dubrov/Mikhael/Mal - and yeah, you can really see the show differences in these mentions right? (whose dubrov...and whose mikhael...)

16% actually voted for Inej/Alina which is wild to me because of book context (they did have chemistry in the show tho :cowboi_smirk:)

Another person with several! We have Nina/Inej, Genya/Alina, Zoya/Alina, Zoya/Genya/Alina. Very sapphic. Good for you.

Kaz/Jesper and Nina/Inej all in one

That’s a lot of honour and mentions but it’s so interesting to me and I think you should see too

Most Enjoyed Ships

The most enjoyed ship was Kaz/Inej. This had unparalleled support, being at 35%. Jesper/Wylan, which was next on the list (23.5%) and Nina/Matthias (18%) were also pretty popular. Most of the others were quite low, though interestingly Mal/Alina only had 1 vote (plus one for the show version). Overall, the SoC ships were a lot more popular in this section, which makes sense - this part is really about your favourite ship, and those were more unanimous in the last sections.

Least Enjoyed Ships

Most people said Darkling/Alina, which got 47% of the NOTP votes. A lot more people disliked Darkling/Alina than liked Kaz/Inej. Make of that what you will, but I take it as a somewhat general agreement among many of you guys. Mal/Alina was also strongly disliked at 22%, but around a half or more of these were clarified to be about the book version of the ship specifically. They really must’ve upgraded in the show! Jesper/Kuwei and any other Darkling ships were also voted by a few, but all of these pale in comparison to the anti-Darklina votes. Shoutout to the person who said Apparat/Anyone. I agree, though it’s not something I thought of before seeing this response. Also one person said they didn’t like the poly ships, which I hope meant just the ones mentioned earlier and not all poly relationships in general... Another shoutout to whoever said Kaz/Heleen, because why did I have to read that. A fun question, all in all!

Crack Ships and Shipping Discourse

I love talking about crack ships, so let’s start with that! This time, I really don’t want to have to count and list because... well, let me show you:

I think that sums up the sheer variety, to be honest. Then again, it would be rude not to mention that the most popular were Jesper/Milo, Darkling/Nikolai and Alina/Sun. (If you’re still confused about that last one, I take full responsibility.)

YES KAZ/KRUGE I SUPPORT!!!

Honourable mention to this:

which was a lot to take in, and:

Now for the discourse. Yep, the part you probably came for.

Actually... maybe you didn’t? Looking at all of these responses, I see a lot of people genuinely don’t care about ship wars and so on, and often enjoyed the books regardless of the romances involved. Quite a few disapproved of the ongoing (though small) wars between Darklina and Malina, and others had a similar line of thinking, saying we should maybe stop focusing so much on it. You guys are right. I know this is a ship survey, and the conclusions should not include that shipping isn’t as important as we make it (Yes it should), but... that’s where it’s at.

And then again, a lot of you guys expressed disapproval for Darkling/Alina, discussing how it is often one-sided and manipulative and overall unhealthy, so I could be completely off with that last one. Some people mentioned that they ship this but as a slightly different version that the one given to us, recognising the flaws of the canon ship.

Someone said they headcanon Tolya as aroace (OMG YES!!). We need more aroace characters, so thank you for that headcanon :) We also have a few gay ships mentioned here, and one person telling us they love Malina. Yes, you’re right - it’s pretty unpopular, it turns out. Someone else said Alina should’ve been single, and I agree, actually!

One person rickrolled me here. Thankfully, Youtube’s ads saved me. *wipes forehead*

I leave you all with this, in the end:

Notes from the Survey

Statistics Stuff:

The top ships were taken from AO3, so some ships may be more focused on in other books and may not provide accurate statistics for an earlier series.

The main circles this was sent around may have had bias as most people are from the same discord server, which has debated these topics in the past. Hence certain ships may have lower-than-average results. In future, this could be improved upon by sending this to other servers and areas of the fandom.

Personal bias may be present in the analysis, though I have tried to minimise this in the more formal sections.

Observations and Notes from Me:

You guys really don’t like Darklina. Or you love it. Usually one or the other. Wow.

Be glad I didn’t talk about any of the cursed ships in this. The things I have seen... (:cowboi_eyes:)

I thought more people would rickroll me, ngl.

What Surprised You Guys:

Kaz/Inej/Jesper

A few of you guys saw some of those cursed ships, and that surprised you. Well, me too!

Nikolai ships being in the TV Show section at all, what with his character not being in the show (yeah what was up with that huh tztz)

Inej/Alina

The existence of The Severed Moon

Darkling/Nikolai(/Alina)

How fun the quiz was :D

Things You Sent Me:

Bee Movie copypasta

“Nobody expects The Spanish Inquisition!”, except via an AO3 link

A fun fact about enzymes! I liked this one

Fic recs for Feriku and Sarai (esp for Wylan/Jesper shippers)

Another rickroll

Nice compliments :) aww you guys

I asked everyone for some kind of placeholder name and never used it. Sorry! But hey, anonymity, right?

Closing Statements

If you got this far (I feel like ive been sitting here for hours), thanks for reading! This was fun to do and I hope you enjoyed all of this too! The survey is still open for anyone who hasn’t done it but wants to. If I get a huge amount of new responses, I might update this post! But for now, adios!

-mod emily (and mod fritz)

#grishaverse #fandom #shipping #shadow and bone #six of crows #nikolai series #king of scars #the grisha trilogy

35 notes · View notes

thegladelf · 7 years

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Killian Jones and The Girl Who Lived 8/8

AAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! We made it to the end!

First things first, thank you, thank you, thank you to @icecubelotr44 for being a super awesome beta. She has really pulled her weight, whether it was in pointing out typos or being a second brain to bounce ideas off of or even suggesting some ideas herself.

Secondly, I am so, so grateful for all the work that @prongsie and @jemmingart has put into illustrating this story. I’ve just been blown away by all their artwork. You guys, rock and I’m so glad we got matched up.

Thirdly, thanks to all the mods over at @captainswanbigbang for putting this on this year. You guys are superstars and i’m super grateful for all the work you put into making this Big Bang awesome!

And finally, I know some of y’all are wondering if I’ll be continuing on through the rest of the series. The answer is, “Yes!” CSBB got me started, but I’m nowhere near finished with this story. I will be taking a few weeks off from posting (for this universe, at least) so that I can get some chapters lined up, but you can expect to see the first chapter of “Killian Jones and The Heir of Sytherin” sometime next month. As this will not be a part of any story initiatives (i.e. CSBB), I would suggest following me on FF.net or Ao3 so you don’t miss a chapter.

A BIG thank you to everyone who has liked and commented so far. I hope to see you for the next installment.

Word Count: 7.1k

Rating: G

First Chapter | Previous Chapter

Chapter Eight: An Underground Adventure

Killian woke on the first morning of exam week convinced that today would be the day. Between every class he ran up to the third floor corridor with the others and pressed his ear to the door as always, listening for snores or the scrape of claws against stone. But as the week wore on and nothing happened, the dread that had followed him since the encounter in the forest loosened its hold. He fell more and more on Mary Margaret's side.

With two of them against her and David cringing every time she said You-Know-Who's name, Emma dropped the subject even though it was obvious she still thought about it.

"No more studying," David said Friday afternoon as they left their last exam. He snatched Killian's exam papers away, but thought better of doing the same to Mary Margaret when she glared at him. "Oh don't look so glum, you three. We've got a whole week until we know how badly we've done… Now, we're going outside and we're putting away all the books until Monday."

Mary Margaret sighed and stuffed her things back into her satchel. "Fine. I suppose we've earned a break."

David got a sly look in his eye. As they approached the main doors, he grabbed Mary Margaret’s hand and darted outside with a whoop. She let out a shout of protest, clutching at her bag with one hand, but when David let go of her hand and kept running she chased after him with a smile on her face. A slightly manic smile, but a smile nonetheless.

“What do you think happens if she catches him?” Emma asked.

Killian shrugged. “Dunno.”

She nodded, rubbing at her scar. She snatched her hand away when she caught him looking and ran off after the others before he could ask her about it. As always, Killian followed.

By the time they caught up to David and Mary Margaret, the other two had slowed back to a walk, heading for the lake. They wandered around for a bit. Every so often, David would scoop up a promising rock and try skipping it across the surface. When the heat became overwhelming, the four of them flopped down under one of the willows. There was no breeze but the shade transformed the heat into something bearable, something sleepy.

They all stretched out and stared up at the long leaves. All of them except for Emma, whose fingers found her scar and began worrying at it.

"You alright, Swan?" Killian asked.

"I wish I knew what this means,” she growled, pressing hard at the little pink mark.

He snatched her hand away. "Careful, you'll rub it raw."

"Emma, relax," David said, reaching his hands beneath his head. "Stone’s safe as long as Dumbledore's around and no one is getting past that dog."

"Yeah," Killian added, "Hagrid would never betray Dumbledore like that. Even if he's a bit too trusting of Snape..." Killian shuddered. He still had goosebumps from their Potions exam. The dour professor spent the entire exam going from student to student, hovering over each of them, making them feel like they’d taken the very Forgetfulness potion they were supposed to be brewing.

“No, I suppose not.” Emma sat bolt upright. "Unless..."

Mary Margaret sighed. "Emma..."

But Emma was already off, robes trailing behind her as she took off for the forest.

With a glance at Mary Margaret, Killian got his feet, brushing grass from his robes as she pulled on David's sleeve. Grumbling, David rolled to his feet and the three of them hurried after Emma. Her destination was clear enough, her sights set on Hagrid's hut so intensely that Killian hoped she didn’t set it aflame with her eyes.

She glanced back at them as they caught up. “Don't you find it suspicious that what Hagrid wants more than anything else is a dragon and a stranger turns up who just happens to have a dragon egg in his pocket?"

Emma barged right up to Hagrid’s door and slammed her fist on it several times.

She received, “Round back!” in answer.

With that same single-minded fury, Emma led them to the back of the hut.

If he noticed the look on Emma’s face, Hagrid didn’t show it.

“Hullo," Hagrid said as they came into view. He tossed an empty pea pod to the growing pile behind him and reached for another. "Got time fer a drink?"

"No, not really," Emma said. "Hagrid, what did the stranger you were playing cards with look like?"

"Dunno," Hagrid replied, popping a pea open. "Wouldn't take off his cloak."

"And did you tell him anything about Hogwarts?"

Hagrid frowned, his hands stilling. "Mighta come up."

The sun felt a hundred times hotter as Killian’s mind finally caught up to Emma's. His heart sank into his stomach.

“Well…” Hagrid paused, eyes narrowed in concentration. "I told him I was gamekeeper here an' he asked about the creatures I look after… which I told him… an’ he told me he had a dragon egg on him and we could play fer it if I thought I could handle it.” Hagrid scoffed. “I told him after Fluffy a dragon would be easy...."

"And did he seem interested in Fluffy?" Emma leaned forward, her weight on the balls of her feet. She held her breath

"Well, it's not everyday yeh meet someone who knows about three-headed dogs,” Hagrid said, looking slightly offended. “I tol' him they're no trouble if you play them a bit o' music, calms 'em right down." Hagrid clapped a giant hand over his mouth. "I shouldn'ta told yet that!"

He had to yell because as soon as she heard the word music, Emma had sprinted off, racing up the hill like her life depended on it.

And it just might, Killian thought as he took off after her.

The Great Hall was cool, turning the sweat on Killian’s back to ice moments after they entered. They all paused, gulping in great lungfuls of air. Emma recovered first, shoving her hair back from her face, though bits of it still clung to her red cheeks.

"Mary Margaret," she said, whirling on the girl in question, "where's Dumbledore's office?"

Bewildered, Mary Margaret shook her head. “I have no idea.”

Emma frowned, but the frown didn’t last long. She pushed past David.

“Professor McGonagall.” Still panting, Emma ran up to the professor. "We need to see Professor Dumbledore. It's important."

"Goodness, Miss Swan, what's the matter?" Professor McGonagall eyed Emma over her wire-rimmed spectacles.

Emma’s eyes darted to the staircase. "Uh… it's kind of a secret."

Professor McGonagall's nostrils flared a little and Killian found himself very glad Emma was the one talking to her and not him.

"Professor Dumbledore left ten minutes ago," McGonagall said in a stony voice. "The Ministry of Magic sent him an urgent owl."

"He's gone?" Emma's voice sounded as steady as Killian felt. "Now?"

McGonagall looked down her long nose, waiting.

"Professor," Mary Margaret said, stepping up next to Emma, "It's about the Sorcerer's Stone..."

"And what do you know about that?" Professor's McGonagall's voice got all high-pitched as she spoke, her eyes wide behind her glasses.

"We just—we do," Emma said, "and I think Sn—I think someone is going to try to steal the Stone tonight. I really need to talk to Professor Dumbledore."

Professor McGonagall pressed her lips together, studying Emma for a long time. Finally, she shook out the sleeves of her robes, adjusting the cuffs with an air of indifference.

"Professor Dumbledore will be back tomorrow," she announced. "And as for the Stone, I don't know how you found out about that, but it is quite well protected, I assure you." She placed her hands on Emma's shoulders and steered her back toward the door. "Now, go. Enjoy the sunshine."

And just like that, they were outside, watching Professor McGonagall march back into the castle.

Emma’s hands shook. “It’s tonight. I know it.”

“We’ll figure something out,” Killian said, putting an arm around her as Mary Margaret came round the other side. It was a brief hug, because Killian caught sight of the last person he wanted to see right now. “Watch out, here comes Snape."

Snape narrowed his eyes as he passed them and if anyone would find standing out in the sunshine a crime, Killian was sure Snape would. But the teacher only nodded at them. They nodded back and he moved on.

David let out a sigh. “Reckon one of us should keep an eye on him?”

Emma nodded.

“Okay, Mary Margaret, you go hang outside the staff room,” David said, pointing.

“Why don’t you go hang outside the staff room?” Mary Margaret shot back.

“Because,” David drew the word out, “no one is going to believe me if I say I’m waiting around for Doc, but you’ve been talking the professors’ ears off about exams since day one.”

Mary Margaret looked thoughtful. “Well, I did have a question about number fourteen…”

David bit back a smile, but wisely said nothing.

“Good,” Emma said. “While she’s doing that, I think David, Killian, and me should keep an eye on the third floor corridor. You game?”

It seemed like a reasonable plan, so they said goodbye to Mary Margaret and tromped up to the third floor. As soon as they got to the door, Emma pressed her ear against it, eyes closed as she listened.

“He’s still there,” she whispered.

They all breathed a sigh of relief.

“Okay, do you think maybe we should split up?” David asked. He gestured to one end of the corridor. “Post a guard at each end? And then one here by the door, just in case?”

“I bet one of us could fit behind that suit of armor,” Killian said.

Emma let out a muffled squeak, her eyes going wide.

“What?” Killian and David asked.

“Oh, I don’t think so.”

All three of them turned to see Professor McGonagall standing at the end of the corridor, her arms crossed over her chest. Her stare pinned their feet to the floor and the swishing of her robes as she stormed down the hall might have been the most ominous sound Killian had ever heard. “I suppose you think that you three can do a better job protecting that stone that an entire school’s worth of professors, do you?”

She stopped right beside Killian and he remembered the way she had held Regina up by her ear. He swallowed hard and tried to appear as small as possible. Her nails looked very, very sharp.

“But, Professor—”

“Don’t you ‘But, Professor’ me, young lady.” She leaned over the three of them. “I have had enough of this nonsense. If I hear you three— no, four have been anywhere near this door again it will be another fifty points from Gryffindor!”

David gasped.

“Yes, Nolan! From my very own house.” The glint in her eye sent them scurrying all the way back to the common room.

They flopped down on the couch miserably.

Emma rubbed at the scar again. “Well, at least we know Mary Margaret’s on Snape’s tail. If he moves she’ll tell us.”

The Fat Lady creaked and Mary Margaret came into the room, her normally pale cheeks flaming.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “Everything was fine for a little while, but then Snape came out and wanted to know what I was doing, so I said I was waiting for Doc. Snape went to get him. I didn’t know what else to do but ask my question and by the time Doc had finished…” She waved her hands helplessly. “I don’t know where Snape went.”

“That’s it.” Emma threw the pillow she had been holding onto the floor, it landed with a loud fwump. “The only thing left to do is sneak out of here tonight and get the Stone before Snape does."

"But you'll be expelled!" Mary Margaret protested. She said the word like it was the worst fate she could imagine.

Emma rolled her eyes. "Expelled is better than being dead! I'll use the invisibility cloak. No one will know I'm even out of bed."

Killian sat up. "Think that'll cover both of us?"

"Make it…" David cast a curious look at Mary Margaret. Her only response was to cross her arms and look sour. “Make it three of us.”

"I—I suppose. It fit two of us and a crate so…" Emma twisted the hem of her sweater. "David. Killian. I can't ask you to..."

“You’re not asking,” Killian replied. “Now, what do you say we all get some dinner?”

The wait after dinner was excruciating. Killian spent the entire time expecting Professor McGonagall to burst into the common room, point a spindly finger at each of them, and demand to know what in the world they thought they were doing. Emma twisted the hem of her sweater until it was absolutely ragged.

Mary Margaret paced nearby, stopping at intervals as David hissed, “Sit down and relax,” at her. She would listen for two minutes before she was on her feet again, pacing and fidgeting. It felt like time trickled by, people leaving the common room in groups of two and three. At last, Leroy Jordan, the last person in the common room, yawned the loudest yawn Killian ever heard and headed upstairs.

Emma jumped to her feet and dashed upstairs to retrieve her cloak.

"If anything happens to us," she said to Mary Margaret, "tell Dumbledore everything."

Killian and David got up, huddling close to Emma, but before she could throw the cloak around their shoulders, Mary Margaret blocked their way.

"Wait..." She shifted from one foot to the other. "You can't go."

"We've already been over this," Emma said. "I can't let Snape get that Stone."

"You'll be caught, Emma." Mary Margaret's voice wavered, she looked about to back off. She paused. Then she took a step forward, throwing her shoulders back and lifting her chin. "And that's the best case scenario. You can't go after a teacher on your own."

"She's not on her own," Killian and David said at the same time.

"You’re students!" Mary Margaret hissed. "We should go to bed, wait for Dumbledore to get back. He can stop Snape. He'll protect you, Emma."

"Rumplestiltskin will have the stone by tomorrow," Emma countered. “Mary Margaret, you know what’s at stake. We have to go!”

Mary Margaret pulled out her wand. "I'm not letting you."

But Killian was just as quick and he already had his hand on his wand. "Petrificus Totalus!"

Mary Margaret dropped her wand as her arms snapped to her sides and her legs locked up. She stared at Killian with wide eyes as she tipped, tilted, and fell face forward. Killian expected that. He sprang toward her, catching her before she hit the ground. David was with him and they lowered her gently the ground.

"Sorry, about that, Mary Margaret," Killian said, pushing his bangs out of his face.

"No, not there.” Emma sounded shaken. "Someone might trip over her."

Mary Margaret was little more than a living log--pure, dead weight as the three of them lifted her with effort and placed her on the couch. Once they had her settled, Emma pulled a blanket over her so that she wouldn’t get cold. Her eyes followed them the entire time, but nothing else moved.

"Will she be alright?" Emma asked.

"It's a Full Body Bind," Killian said, "it won't hurt her."

"Okay.” Emma leaned over their friend, tucking the blanket under her chin. “It'll be alright, Mary Margaret, I promise. We'll be back with the Stone in no time."

He felt sick with guilt as Emma threw the cloak over them . Liam would be so disappointed with him for using that spell on a friend. Of course, he knew Mary Margaret had been about to use it on them. They had discovered it together. She would understand later, he hoped. This was Emma’s life they were talking about it and if the adults weren’t going to do anything to stop You-Know-Who, then it was up to them.

All the way up to the third floor corridor it felt like ants were crawling over him, but he daren’t look around under the cloak to see if anyone was watching them. Instead, he kept his eyes fixed on the hallways in front of them.

At the staircase up to the third floor, they ran into a problem.

Peeves hovered over the floor, pudgy fingers picking at the carpet so that it would trip people.

Killian sucked in a breath as the ghost turned in their direction.

“Who’s there?” Peeves said in a nasal voice as they tried to squeeze past him. His wicked, black eyes glinted in the darkness. “I can’t see you, but you’re there.” They backed up quickly as Peeves waved a hand in front of him. “Are you ghoulie or ghostie or wee student beastie?”

Emma bit her lip.

The ghost rose up, drifting this way and that in front of them. “Should call Filch, I should, if something’s a-creeping around unseen.”

“Peeves,” David said in a hoarse whisper. He waved off the hand Killian tried to clap over his mouth. “The Bloody Baron has his reasons for being invisible.”

Peeves dropped suddenly, nearly hit the floor before he slowed, hands fumbling together. “Sorry, so sorry, your bloodiness—Mr. Baron—sir…My mistake, my mistake—I didn’t—of course I didn’t, you’re invisible—forgive old Peevsie he thought you were a student out of bed.”

Killian pressed a hand over his mouth, fighting back a giggle.

“Stay away from this place tonight, Peeves,” David continued, “I have business here.”

“Oh, yes sir, I will. Most certainly I will. I’ll stay out of your way, not a bother, not old Peeves.” And he hustled off, his little legs working even if his feet didn’t touch the ground.”

Emma breathed a sigh of relief.

Killian slung an arm around David’s neck. “That was brilliant, mate!”

“Yes, brilliant,” Emma hissed. “Now let’s go.”

They all took the stairs two at a time. If he had been with anyone else, Killian knew he would have tripped over one of them, but the three of them moved in a sort of sync. They were at the end of the corridor in a matter of seconds.

And they were already too late.

The door to Fluffy's cell stood open.

Emma let out a cry of despair and rushed forward, stopping just short of the door. Giant, snuffling snores echoed into the hallway.

"He's got it," Killian whispered. His brain whirled, trying to think of places they could hide Emma until Dumbledore came back tomorrow. He'd heard David's brother talking about secret passageways once with Leroy. Had they been talking about real passages? Or just discussing something that might be?

"We don't know that," Emma said, pulling the cloak off. She squared her shoulders. "Okay, if you two want to go back, I won't blame you."

"Don't be stupid," Killian said.

"We're coming," David finished.

They crept closer to the door, leaning over each other as they peered into the room. All three of the dog’s heads snapped up, noses pointed at them and sniffing wildly. At its feet sat a small harp.

Fluffy growled.

"Okay, then," Emma said and she pulled a wooden flute out of her pocket. “Time to put this to use I suppose.”

Killian would not in a million years call what she played music, but at the first low whistle of the flute, the dog's eyes drooped. The growls grew quieter and quieter until they turned to snores.

David gagged as they crept closer to the dog and he got a lungful of its breath.

"What does Hagrid feed this thing?" Killian whispered.

“Judging by what he fed Norbert? Probably fire whisky and rotten meat,” David replied, his face scrunched up in disgust.

“Hagrid would never feed one of his animals rotten meat.”

“Unless that what it liked.” David grimaced. “He’d probably keep the meat in his hut to make sure it spoiled properly.”

As they talked, the two boys stepped carefully over the dog's legs and bent for the ring of the trapdoor. The heavy door required a Herculean effort from them both, but they got it open.

Killian peered inside, trying to make out some detail besides utter darkness.

David swallowed. "Don't suppose you feel like going first, Killian."

Emma saved Killian from responding by waving at them. She pointed to herself and then to the darkness.

"Really?" he asked.

"Emma, you can't tell how deep this thing goes," David said, leaning over the lip again.

In response, she shoved the flute at Killian. The dog’s big ears twitched the minute the tune stopped and Killian put it to his mouth instead of arguing with her, blowing until he produced a steady whistle. Fluffy relaxed again.

Emma fearlessly sat on the lip of the hole. Without warning she pushed off the lip and dropped out of sight.

Killian almost stopped playing.

There was an odd sort of thump followed by, "It's okay! It's… something soft. You're fine to jump."

David clambered into the hole next, feet first, lowering himself until Killian could only see his fingertips. He let go. Still blowing on the flute--he wasn't doing much better than Emma--Killian edged up to the hole, feeling carefully with his toes. At last, he felt for the lip. He stopped playing when he found it and took a deep breath.

He jumped.

He heard the snaps of three enormous sets of teeth as he fell. Down, down, down, and--FLUMP. He was sprawled all over something soft. He felt around him, feeling the slightly waxy skin of a plant. Something curled around his ankles.

Heart in his throat, he whipped out his wand and cried "Lumos!"

"Killian! What the hell?" Emma threw her hand up to shield her eyes.

"Look!" he jabbed a finger at her and David.

The same long, twisting creepers grabbing at Killian's ankles had wrapped all the way around Emma and David's legs. He yanked hard one last time and snapped the last vine in two, but Emma and David weren't as lucky. The more they struggled, the higher the vines wrapped around them. Killian wracked his brain. He knew he'd heard of such a plant. It was in his herbology book—and there had been a question about it on—

"It's Devil's Snare," he shouted.

"Thanks for that completely helpful information," David shouted, struggling to free his arms.

"Shut up," Killian shot back. "I'm trying to remember how to kill it… creeping vines, likes dark and damp..."

"Then light a fire!" Emma gasped. The vines were all the way up to her chest.

"I don't have any wood!"

"KILLIAN, YOU NINNY, YOU'RE A WIZARD!" David bellowed.

"Oh!" With a flick of his wand, Killian muttered the same spell that he used to set Snape's robes on fire. The vines started smoldering and wriggling, unraveling as they loosed Emma and David. He held out his free hand, helping each of them away from the roots.

"Good thing you pay attention in herbology," Emma said, drawing several shaky breaths.

"Good thing some of us keep cool head under pressure." David shook his head. "Honestly. 'I don't have any wood'."

Killian tucked his wand back into his robes with flaming cheeks.

Emma tilted her head toward a looming arch. "This way, I think."

They followed her down a sloping passageway, the light from Emma's wand glistening on the water trickling down the walls. Killian shivered.

"Shh, hear that?" David asked.

They all froze. A soft rustling, clinking sound broke the silence up ahead.

They all exchanged quick glances and hurried on, coming to a brightly lit chamber. Killian craned his neck all the way back before he found the ceiling high above them. A flash of color darted across his vision. Bringing his gaze a little closer to him he found bright, jeweled birds fluttering about twenty feet off the ground.

"Is it just me, or does that looks too easy?" Emma asked, pointing to the door on the opposite side the room. There was nothing else there save for the birds fluttering high above them.

"One way to find out," David said.

Emma slid her wand back into its pocket. "Here’s the plan: I'll run and we'll see what happens."

"I don't think--"

But she was already racing across the room, her robes held over her head, so Killian let the sentence die.

The jeweled birds stayed far above them and Emma reached the other side unscathed. She hauled on the door, but it held fast. Killian and David came to help her, but the door remained firmly shut.

“Hold on,” Killian said, pulling out his wand. “Alohomora!”

Nothing happened.

"There's got to be a way in," Killian said, turning back to the room. He scratched behind his ear as he thought. "Maybe it has to do with the birds. They can't just be for decoration."

Emma's eyes lit up. "Of course." She grabbed his arm, pointing. "Look, they're keys. Winged keys!" She bit her lip, scanning the room. "And there! Broomsticks."

Killian nodded. "We've got to catch the right one."

"But there are hundreds of them!" David said.

Killian ran his fingers over the lock. "We're looking for a big, old-fashioned one. Silver like the handle."

Emma nodded vigorously. Golden hair streaming in the bright light, she ran for one of the brooms.

The boys were right behind her. Killian was much better at flying that he had been at the beginning of the year, but he was unprepared for the task of flying chasing the bird-like keys. He almost fell off his broom several times. David fared better and Emma was a blur, flitting after this key and then the next at boggling speeds. Killian couldn’t keep up. The keys darted about so quickly it was hard to tell what kind of key they were.

"There! That blue one!" Emma pointed to a key, big and silver with a bent wing, like it had already been caught and stuffed in a lock.

The three of them wasted several minutes trying to capture the key.

“Hold on,” Emma said, pulling her broom up short and hovering. “We need to trap it. Killian you go low, keep it from flying down. David you go high and come at it from above. I’ll try to catch it.”

“Right,” Killian and David said.

They circled around until they were in position.

“Ready?” Emma called. “Now!”

Focusing on the key with all his might, Killian rocketed upward. David came at him from the opposite direction. Emma zipped between them, crowding the key toward the wall. With a vicious crunch she trapped it.

“YEAH!” Killian and David whooped. David did a loop with his broom, fist raised high over his head.

They landed by the door and Emma shoved the key into the lock.

Killian felt a little sorry for the poor thing, it looked very battered now that it had been caught twice.

The hinges squealed as they hauled the door open and they rushed into the next room.

Torches sprang to life as they entered, revealing a giant chessboard, complete with pieces twice as tall as Killian. He swallowed, looking up at the grim-faced black king. On the other side, just beyond the lined up white pieces, was the door. The chessboard took up nearly the whole room, there wasn’t even any room at the sides for them to sneak past.

Emma took a step forward and the black queen’s head swiveled around to look at each of them.

Emma froze, her mouth making a little ‘o’.

"What now?" Killian asked, eyeing the mace in the knight’s hand warily. He’d played enough games of wizard’s chess to know how lethal those were.

"We play our way across, obviously," David said.

"How?"

"We listen to David," Emma said. "No offense, Killian, but he's been playing loads longer than either of us."

Killian held up his hands. "None taken."

David started giving orders right away. He put Emma in the place of a bishop and Killian in the place of a castle, before taking the place of a knight. Killian resisted the urge to bite his nails as a white pawn moved forward with a grating sound.

David shouted commands to the black pieces and they obeyed silently.

Their first casualty came before long. The white queen smashed the knight that wasn’t David and dragged him off the board. Even though they knew what to expect, it took a minute to collect themselves and move on with play. The knight was the first, but not the last. With every black piece that joined the pile on the other side of the board, Killian’s knees trembled a little more violently, but he held his place.

David darted around fearlessly, more than making up for the pieces they lost. Killian and Emma were almost to the other side of the board when the white queen rotated in his direction.

"David!" Emma shouted.

"NO! Stay there!" He held up a hand, head high as he faced the queen and her wicked stone sword. "Emma, as soon as she takes me, you can checkmate the king. Do you see?"

Emma nodded, tears streaking down her cheek. "But..."

"Do you want to stop Snape?"

"David," Killian tried, but David cut him off with a wave of the hand.

"This is chess. You have sacrifice pieces to win." His eyes looked impossibly blue as he met each of their eyes in turn. He took a deep breath. "I can do this. Don't hang around once you're through, Snape's already too far ahead."

Killian covered his eyes as David stepped right into the white queen's path, but that didn't shield his ears from the sickening crunch. He opened his eyes in time to see the queen drag David's limp form to the side.

Emma took three shaky steps to the left and the white king threw his crown at her feet.

Killian didn’t waste any time, he bolted for the door, grabbing Emma’s arm as he went. “He’ll be alright,” he told her, hoping it sounded more convincing than it felt. He knew the worst was still ahead of them.

"That was McGonagall's," he said as they entered the next passageway. "And the Devil's Snare was clearly Professor Anton's."

"And Flitwick probably charmed the keys." Emma paused at the next door, swallowing as she laid her hand on the handle. "Which leaves Heller, Dumbledore, and Snape's spell."

He nodded.

“Ready?”

“Ready.”

Emma pushed the door open. Noxious air flooded out of the room beyond, causing them both to pull their robes up over their noses. Emma swiped at her eyes with her sleeve.

"Glad we don't have to deal with that," she choked out, skirting past the troll laid flat out on the floor.

Killian tried not to gag. "Yeah."

The next room couldn’t have been more different. It was empty save for a single table standing in the middle. On the table sat seven bottles, no two the same shape.

"Snape's?" Emma guessed.

"Snape's."

Cautiously, they stepped into the room, grateful for the clean, dank air. There was a pop and a hiss as purple fire sprang up behind them.

No going back. No going forward either, Killian realized as a wall of black fire came to life on the other side of the room, blocking them from the only other door.

With a shrug, Emma feigned nonchalance, but her eyes were wide as saucers as she approached the table. A small scroll lay in front of the bottles. She picked it up with two fingers, holding it far away from her as she unrolled it gingerly. When it didn’t explode in her face, she started reading. Her eyes got even wider the further she got down the page.

"What do you make of this?" she asked, shoving the paper at Killian.

Killian carefully unrolled the parchment.

Danger lies before you, while safety lies behind,

Two of us will help you, whichever you would find,

One among us seven will let you move ahead,

Two among our number hold only nettle wine,

Three of us are killers, waiting hidden in line.

Choose, unless you wish to stay here forevermore,

To help you in your choice, we give you these clues four:

First, however slyly the poison tries to hide

You will always find some on nettle wine’s left side;

Second, different are those who stand on either end,

But if you would more onward, neither is your friend;

Third, as you see clearly, all are different size,

Neither dwarf nor giant holds death in their insides;

Fourth, the second left and the second on the right

Are twins one you taste them, though different at first sight.

"Oh, this is brilliant," he said.

"What is brilliant?"

Killian waved the scroll in the air. "It's a logic puzzle. Most wizards haven't got an ounce of logic, they'd be suck here for ages!"

"I don't know why you're so happy about that." Emma planted her hands on her hips. "That means we'll be stuck here for ages, too."

"No, we won't." Killian grinned. "My—I happen to know a thing or two about riddles."

His mum had been obsessed with riddles. When he was little she used to babble them non-stop. As he grew, he learned that nothing calmed her down the way a riddle or word puzzle did. He spent years searching out new riddles every time he went to school, because they put a smile on his mother’s face. She loved puzzling them out with him. He'd gotten very good at them.

"Well? What's the answer then?"

"Give me a minute."

He worked through each of the clues, mentally arranging the bottles in his mind. The one on the far left couldn't be the nettle wine, but it could be poison. The biggest bottle and the littlest bottle weren't poison. Neither of the bottles at the end could get them past the black flames.

Finally, he plucked up the smallest bottle. "This will get us to the next room."

Emma frowned as she took it and looked inside. She pursed her lips together, brows drawn tight.

"Killian, which bottle will get us back the way we came?"

Killian pointed to the bottle all the way on the right.

"There's barely any of this potion left," she said, holding up the bottle in her hand. "Not enough for both of us. You should take that bottle and go back for Dave."

"But—"

"Rumplestiltskin is after me," Emma said. "I got lucky once, maybe I'll get lucky again."

He bit down on his lip to keep it from trembling. "You're an amazing witch, you know."

"Not as good as you," she said with a sad smile.

"Me?" Killian resisted the urge to itch behind his ear and couldn't manage to meet Emma's eyes. "I'm clever and I've read a lot, but I think friendship and bravery are a bit more important."

"You're a good friend, too, Killian." Her voice warbled. Suddenly, she launched herself forward, wrapping her arms around his shoulders.

Only Liam and his mother had ever hugged him before and the exuberance of her affection took him aback. It was nice, he decided. He hugged her back quickly.

"Quick, Snape might already be in there." He held out a hand, arresting her as she lifted her bottle to her lips. "Let me try first."

"You’re sure you're right?" She searched his face, her eyes shimmering with more emotions that he could name.

"Positive."

He downed the whole potion in his bottle. His fingers and toes tingled, a wave of cold sweeping straight to his core and meeting the cold lump in his gut. It was like drinking a hundred glasses of ice water at once. With a deep breath, he ran straight through the purple flames. He paused at the door, waving to Emma that he was alright. She nodded and lifted the small bottle to her lips as he reentered the chess room.

David sat near the door, propped up against one of the broken knights, cradling his arm to his chest. He had a large, purpling bruise on his forehead. He struggled to get up when he saw Killian.

"Emma? Is she—"

"She's alright. Or she was when I left her,” Killian said, kneeling next to him. “Only one of us could move on, so she sent me back for you. You're a mess, mate."

"I feel a mess."

"Here, let’s get you up." He gingerly took David's god arm, hauling it over his shoulder.

David groaned.

"Sorry!"

"How are we going to get out of here?" David asked. "I can barely walk."

"Can you fly with a bum arm?"

David grinned at him, or at least, that's what Killian thought it was supposed to be as it looked a bit more like a grimace with his face all messed up.

"Only need one to hold on."

"Right, let's get you on a broom then."

Killian couldn’t help checking over his shoulder every few minutes as he helped David hobble back across the chessboard. He expected the queen or a knight to reanimate and bar their way, but all the pieces held exactly as they were when he fled the room with Emma. At last, they reentered the room of glittering keys.

Killian left David leaning against the wall as he ran to retrieve the two brooms. Then came the tricky part. With his bad ankle it took several minutes for David to balance enough to mount the broom.

Though he wanted to hurry, he and David took a slower pace the rest of the way back. Killian was the only one with a hand free for a wand and he knew they'd do Emma no good if they plastered themselves against a wall. When they reached the room with the Devil's Snare, Killian groaned.

"We forgot about Fluffy."

"I've got an idea. Whatever you do, Killian, don't stop flying." And then he broke out into one of the songs for his favorite Quidditch team, the Chudley Cannons. Belting it at the top of his lungs, he headed straight for the still open trapdoor.

Killian followed right behind. He zipped out the trapdoor right behind David, expecting Fluffy's huge jaws to snap on him the minute he popped out. But the big dog snored in rhythm with David's bellowing. Only once they were through the still-open door did David stop singing. Killian managed to get the door closed just as the dog started growling.

They both let out long sighs.

"I need to get an owl out to Professor Dumbledore," Killian said, "will you be—"

"I have already sent an owl to Professor Dumbledore," Professor McGonagall announced. She stepped out of the shadows around a suit of armor, her face pinched in anger. "What in the world did you two think you were doing? Where is Miss Swan?"

Her skin was so pale, she looking like one of the ghosts.

"Uh..." David said.

"Emma's down there," Killian said.

Professor McGonagall went even whiter.

"David got hurt beating your chess spell and Emma sent me back with him while she went into the next room..."

"You… beat… you solved..." Professor McGonagall sputtered.

"And now she needs us to get up to the owlery and send a message to Dumbledore, because Snape was ahead of us the entire time."

She pulled herself up to her full height, looking down her nose at them. "I just spoke with Professor Snape not ten minutes ago," she said, "I can assure you that he's not down there."

"He's not?" Killian blinked. If not Snape, then who? "Well, someone is down there with her. Someone bent that key and knocked out that troll and drank the potion!"

"I believe you," Professor McGonagall said after a moment of consideration. "Well, Mr. Jones, I think you had better help Mr. Nolan to the hospital wing. I will send a message to Professor Dumbledore." Her robes swished as she turned, muttering to herself.

David chose to remain on his broom for the trip to the infirmary, hovering just above the ground as Killian steered. Madam Pomfrey answered the door in her nightgown, a lacey bonnet covering her hair. When she saw David all battered and bruised, she tutted at them and ushered them inside.

Killian suppressed a shudder. He couldn't imagine why she slept in the little room off the entrance. The hospital wing was clean, certainly, almost too clean and so devoid of color, with the pale walls and white sheets and the beds lined up in two neat rows.

David climbed onto the nearest one with a groan.

"You can sit over there, Mr. Jones," Madam Pomfrey said, pointing to a chair by the door. Meekly, Killian obeyed, curling into the chair and trying to keep very still. This room felt too much like a hospital for his liking and he twice caught himself bouncing his leg erratically.

David yelped as Madam Pomfrey poked at his arm and declared it broken. With potions and her wand, she set to repairing the damage inflicted by the white queen.

"There, I think that should about do, Mr Nolan, how do you—"

Something hit the infirmary doors with great thundering booms, over and over again.

"Oh, what now?" Pomfrey muttered.

The door swung open before she could get to it and Professor Dumbledore rushed in, Emma hanging limp and pale in his arms. Killian jumped to his feet.

"Emma?"

No one paid him any mind. Madam Pomfrey ceased tending to David and rushed over to help Dumbledore, cradling Emma’s head as they placed her on a bed.

"What happened, sir?" she asked.

In a low voice, Dumbledore explained everything. Professor Heller, it seemed, had been possessed by You-Know-Who. Emma had got the Stone and held him off, but the effort left her drained and unconscious. The remains of Professor Heller sounded especially gruesome to Killian’s ears. As Dumbledore whispered hurriedly, he seemed far removed from the cool, eccentric man of the start of the year banquet.

Madam Pomfrey fussed over Emma the entire time, taking her pulse and looking in her eyes. At last, she took a step back. "Well, I think she'll be alright, professor. Just needs a bit of rest."

Killian and David both breathed sighs of relief.

A mistake on their part. It got them kicked out of the infirmary with instructions not to come back until the sun had risen.

The Fat Lady was surprised to see them, but she let them when they mumbled the password and that was all that mattered.

“I’m glad classes are over,” David said with a yawn. “I’m going to sleep until noon. Gods, that’ll earn me an earful from Mary Margaret, she probably wants to…”

Killian froze.

“What?”

"David," he said, turning toward the couch. "We almost forgot about Mary Margaret."

David's eyes grew three sizes, he looked ready to bolt up the stairs.

Killian didn't hesitate, crossing to the couch and taking out his wand. The counter spell was quick and Mary Margaret sat up carefully.

"Sorry,” Killian said, “we didn't mean to forget."

"I hope you have a better apology than that," she said, her voice all high and squeaky. Her eyes filled with tears as she glowered at him. "Do you know what I've been doing? I've been lying there waiting for someone to come tell me my best friends were dead...” She inhaled sharply. “Wait, where's Emma?"

David crept over, like a dog expecting to be hit. “Madam Pomfrey is fixing her up.”

“Fixing her up?” Mary Margaret exclaimed. “What happened?

David and Killian exchanged a glance. And then launched into what happened, reliving each moment as they told it. Mary Margaret sat slack-jawed as they explained how they got past Fluffy and then the Devil’s Snare. She listened intently to their description of the keys and gripped David’s hand when he spoke of the chess game. And then they came to the logic puzzle, which she insisted on solving herself. At last, Killian told her the story Dumbledore told Madam Pomfrey.

“And that’s all we know,” he said with a shrug. “Emma didn’t have a scratch on her, but supposedly Heller’s whole face was melted off.”

"But Madam Pomfrey says she'll be alright, right?" Mary Margaret twisted her fingers in her lap.

Killian nodded. "She said we could come round in the morning."

"After we've got some sleep." David yawned. "I'm going up to bed. G'night Mary Margaret."

She gaped as he trudged upstairs. Killian shrugged. That was Dave.

Killian stayed downstairs to answer a few more of her questions, but she noticed that he was tired, finally, and let him follow David upstairs. On the way up, he thought he would stay up the rest of the night worrying about Emma, but instead, he fell into bed like something dead. He didn't even register David's snores before he fell asleep.

For the next three days, he, Mary Margaret, and David kept a vigil in the infirmary, leaving only for meals and when Madam Pomfrey kicked them out at night. They watched over her in shifts. Madam Pomfrey was quite strict when it came to how many visitors could be with Emma at any one time and their classmates insisted on stopping by with gifts and questions. Lots of questions. They didn’t get many answers though, because Madam Pomfrey always ushered them off as soon as soon as their gift was placed on the little bedside table. All except for Happy and Leroy. They had procured a pick axe and tried to sneak it in as a gift and Madam Pomfrey nearly boxed both their ears with it.

On the third day, Emma had a visitor even Madam Pomfrey wouldn’t argue with. Dumbledore.

"You are starting to look a bit pale, Mr. Jones,” the old professor said, placing his hand on Killian’s shoulder. "My apologies, I did not mean to startle you." He nodded at the sun streaming in through the windows. "I believe they are serving lunch at the moment. And then I think you should go get some sun. It will do Miss Swan little good to have you end up in the bed next to her."

"I'm—"

"Go, I'll sit with her for a little while, I think." The professor shooed him away from the bedside, folding his hands over his long, white beard as he occupied the chair next to Emma’s bed.

"What are you doing down here?" Mary Margaret asked as he sat next to her. Their success appeared to have wiped the memory of their betrayal from her mind, for she hadn't berated them once for hexing her and going after the Stone. "Is everything okay? I thought we’d agreed that I’d come relieve you after lunch." She dug around in her satchel, looking for one of her color-coded schedules. In true Mary Margaret fashion, she had drawn up a time sheet with each of the shifts they pulled. She said it was so they wouldn’t squabble over who got to sit with Emma, but Killian knew it was because she felt better when things were in neat little boxes.

"Professor Dumbledore told me he'd like to sit with her a while." Killian filled his plate. Perhaps if he ate a good lunch, the professor wouldn't force him to go outside and he could sit with Mary Margaret while she sat with Emma.

They talked quietly as they ate, grumbling about the Slytherins pulling ahead in the House Cup. Regina was beyond smug over at the table with her little clique.

"Can't believe my brother took up with those rotters," David mumbled around a mouthful of peanut butter sandwich.

"At least you won't have to deal with Regina," Mary Margaret muttered. "Gran might absolutely refuse to have Cora round the house, but that rule doesn’t apply to Regina. She’s sure to be round a least once this summer."

"Excuse me."

The three children turned to find Professor McGonagall standing behind them. "Professor Dumbledore wished me to inform you that Miss Swan is awake."

Servingware clattered against their plates as they abandoned their lunches and rushed out of the Great Hall. As they left, the whispers of students grew to a hushed roar. Everyone had heard of their adventure beneath the school, of course, because Leroy and Happy had pinned David down until he told the whole story. Killian added details out of sympathy—and because he wasn’t sure if the two older boys would turn on him next.

For once, he wasn’t paying any attention to the eyes on him.

Madam Pomfrey stopped them at the door to the infirmary.

“But you just let Professor Dumbledore in!” Killian said. “He got to talk to her.”

“Professor Dumbledore is the headmaster,” she replied calmly.

“Please,” Mary Margaret said, “just five minutes. We just want to know she’s okay.”

Madam Pomfrey sighed. “Fine. Five minutes.”

She stepped back as they burst through the door.

“Emma!” Killian called racing down the row.

She called out their names as they crowded around her, reaching for each of them with a bright grin on her face.

“I was so worried,” Mary Margaret exclaimed. She perched on the side of Emma’s bed, capturing one of her hands.

“What happened?” David asked, plopping down in the chair.

“Are you alright?” Killian asked.

“Goodness. Are you going to stop talking long enough for me to answer all of you?”

They laughed.

Emma told them all about the last room. Finding the Mirror, being surprised by Heller, figuring out how to find the Stone, fighting the teacher off, Rumplestiltskin. Even though he knew the ending of the story, Killian’s heart was in his throat the entire time.

In turn, Killian and David supplied their side of the story.

Emma got a stitch laughing when they got to the part about David singing. “Oh, I wish I could have seen that.” She sat back, reaching for the box of Bertie Bott’s beans that David was munching on. “How did things go while I was out?”

“Terribly,” David grumbled. “Slytherin has the House Cup.”

Emma looked like she might be angry for a minute, but then she shrugged. “But we have the Stone and Rumplestiltskin doesn’t.”

It was good attitude to take. After everything they’d been through the last few days, the House Cup seemed rather trivial to Killian.

Of course, that didn't make walking into the Great Hall the next evening any easier. Madam Pomfrey insisted that Emma stay in the infirmary one last night and wouldn’t let them see her at all the next day, so he, Mary Margaret, and David headed down without her—though they saved her a seat. She slid in next to Killian a few minutes late, head held high despite Oliver Wood's dour expression.

She glared in Regina's direction and muttered, "Next year."

"Next year we'll win for sure," David said. "And I bet we'll take the Quidditch Cup too."

Emma grinned.

They all fell silent as Professor Dumbledore stood. "I believe there is a House Cup that needs awarding. The points stand as thus: In fourth place, Gryffindor, with three hundred and twelve points; in third, Hufflepuff, with three hundred and fifty-two."

"Can't believe we let Hufflepuff—" David cut off quickly.

Mary Margaret had elbowed him in the ribs.

"Ravenclaw has four hundred and twenty-six and Slytherin, four hundred and seventy-two."

Cheers erupted from the Slytherin table, as loud as if they were hearing the news for the first time. Everyone else glared at them. Three straight days of gloating had left Slytherin with few friends outside of their own house.

Dumbledore raised a hand. "Yes, well done, Slytherin. However, there are recent events to take into account."

The Slytherins stopped clapping, their smiles stayed, but they were as faded as a well-washed stain.

Silence fell over the hall.

"Let me see." Dumbledore cleared his throat. "To Mr. David Nolan, for the best played game of chess Hogwarts has seen in many years, I award fifty points."

David's jaw dropped open. Half-hearted cheers pattered down the length of the table. A nice gesture from the professor, but all it did was put them ahead of Hufflepuff.

"Yes, yes." Dumbledore gestured for silence. "Second, to Mr. Killian Jones, for the use of cool logic in the face of fire, I award fifty points."

Now some of Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff joined the Gryffindor table, several hoots ringing out as students realized exactly what Dumbledore was doing. Killian felt his cheeks go red, but he didn't duck away like he normally would.

"He's right," Emma whispered. "You were both brilliant."

"Third, to Miss Emma Swan, for pure nerve and outstanding courage," Dumbledore paused, letting the silence sit for a long moment, "I award sixty points."

Everyone but Slytherin was cheering and hollering at this point. Hands pounded on their backs from all sides.

Killian had to shout above the crowd to be heard. "That ties us with Slytherin!"

Emma held her breath, turning to Dumbledore.

Dumbledore smiled and the room fell silent again. "There are many kinds of courage. It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends."

Emma let out a squeak, grabbing Killian's arm.

"I therefore award ten points to Miss Mary Margaret Blanchard. Now, I believe a change in decoration is in order.”

A roar burst from the crowd as he held his wand aloft. The flags hanging from the ceiling changed, red bleeding down over green until every single one held the gold lion on a scarlet field.

From his place a few seats down, Leroy Jordan jumped up onto the bench, yelling at the top of his lungs. “We won! Yeah! WE WOOOOOOON!”

David leaned over to say something to Mary Margaret. Killian's eyes followed as she turned. He nudged Emma, pointing out a very put out Regina.

Emma laughed.

She leaned in and said, "Look up there if you want to see something even better." She pointed to the head table.

Snape was shaking hands with Professor McGonagall, a brittle smile on his face. He scanned the crowd, meeting Killian's eyes for a brief second before settling behind him. On Emma. Killian sighed. He supposed there were worse things than teachers that couldn’t let go of a grudge.

# # #

The next few days passed in a blur and before Killian knew it, they were all packed up and boarding the Hogwarts Express for the trip home. He was excited—Liam had finally found them a little flat—but he was also sad to leave.

But he’d be coming back next year, he reminded himself as he followed his friends into one of the compartments.

As they slid into the benches, Emma pulled out a little bound book and started flipping through it.

"What's that?" Killian asked as he sat on the bench across from Emma.

She held it up so they could see the photo on the cover. "Hagrid gave it to me. He felt really bad about almost getting me killed."

"It's not his fault," Mary Margaret insisted.

"It kind of is," David said.

"I'm with Mary Margaret," Emma said, passing her the book. "It's all pictures from my parents’ friends. Of them."

Killian took the book when Mary Margaret offered it, leaning over so that David could see, too. The first picture was of a couple, a man with unruly blonde hair and a dark-haired woman who held a bald baby. The resemblance was clear. Even in the black and white photo, Killian could see that Baby Emma's eyes were the exact same shade as her mother’s. As he watched, the woman kissed the baby on the cheek and grinned at the camera again.

"I'm sorry, Emma," he said.

"For what?"

"That you have to go back home," he said. He didn’t know why, but according to Emma, she had to go back to the Dursley’s. His gut coiled at the thought of her being forced into that little closet beneath the stairs again. He was going to have his own room—his own room—and his best friend would be sleeping on a mattress in a broom closet

David nodded somberly. "My mum even offered to have you stay the summer with us, but Dumbledore told her no, too."

She shrugged. "It's not your faults. Besides..." Emma turned, catching the last glimpse of Hogwarts as the train rounded the bend. "It's not home. Not really."

"We'll write you letters every day," Mary Margaret said and the others nodded.

"And Mum says you’re welcome to visit—all of you are." He laughed. “The more the merrier, that’s the motto at the Nolan house.”

"And Liam said our flat has a telephone," Killian said, "so I can call you!"

Emma's grin was blinding. She reached into her bag for a rumpled scrap of parchment and a pencil. She scrawled her phone number quickly and shoved it in Killian’s hand.

“What’s a telephone?” Mary Margaret asked, leaning over to read the number over Killian’s shoulder. She wrinkled her nose, confused.

“I’ve heard of those,” David said, "Dad says Muggles use them to communicate."

Mary Margaret blinked. "They don't use owls?"

Emma giggled. “No, most Muggles would think using an owl was ridiculous.”

“They used pigeons once. At least that’s what Dad says.”

“Well, we don’t use birds anymore.”

“Okay,” Mary Margaret said, “but what’s a telephone?”

“Well, it’s kind…it’s, um, usually made of plastic and it has these buttons with numbers on them. Like this.” She leaned over and started to draw on the remaining scrap of parchment.

“Hold on.” Mary Margaret bent over her bag, retrieving an old notebook and her quill. “I want to take notes.”

Emma laughed so hard it was a long time before she got back to explaining the workings of Muggle communication. And Mary Margaret did take notes as Emma talked about telephones and the post and the internet until she had no more answers to give.

King's Cross station came far too soon for Killian's liking. Soon, they were all packing up their snacks and filing into the hallway. After so many months as Hogwarts, the pressing crowd didn't feel quite so disorienting as it had on the trip out.

“There they are,” David said, spotting his parents almost immediately. He waved wildly before breaking off from the group. He and his brothers converged on them, even James ditched his Slytherin buddies to go say hello to his parents.

Mary Margaret was the next to go. “There’s Gran,” she said as she trotted off.

The crowd came between them before Killian caught a glimpse of the old woman in question.

Emma sighed. "I'd better get my things."

"I'll come with you," Killian said.

"And what's a scrawny thing like you going to do with a full trunk?" a familiar voice asked.

"Liam!" Killian whirled and there, hands propped on his hips and shaggy curls falling into his face, stood his brother. He sprinted through the crowd, seizing Liam’s hand. "David and Mary Margaret have already run off. Well, David's over there." He waved in the Nolans’ general direction. "And Mary Margaret is over that way somewhere, but you'll never find her in the crowd. But you have to meet Emma. I don’t think her family is here yet and…"

“Whoa, slow down, little brother.” Liam held up his free hand, laughing. “Let’s take it one step at a time.”

Emma watched them approach, her fingers clutching the strap of her bag. She smiled shyly.

"Emma. Emma this is my brother. Liam." He stopped in front of her, gesturing between the two of them.

She bit her lip, like she was trying not to laugh. "Pleased to meet you."

Liam extended a hand. "And you. Thanks for putting up with my brother this year."

"More like he had to put up with me," she said with a snort.

"I did hear you got into a spot of trouble."

Killian waited for him to say more, to mention the Dark One or her parents, but Liam didn't gawk or ask about her scar. He acted like it was perfectly natural that Killian made friends with The Girl Who Lived.

"Now, I believe we were retrieving your trunks?"

They led him to the back of the train and—after a few minutes of searching—pointed out the compartment. Hedwig hooted softly at them. Mary Margaret's trunk was gone, but David's still sat beneath Emma's. Liam spotted Killian’s trunk right away and as soon as they pointed out which one was Emma’s, he tapped them both with his wand. The slid out easily after that.

"I could have done that,” Killian said as he took hold of his handle.

"Not outside of school, you couldn't, little brother."

Killian blushed, eyes sliding to Emma. "Younger brother."

Liam rolled his eyes. "Let's go, I'm sure Emma's family is waiting."

She grimaced at the mention of the Dursleys, but didn't protest as they wove through the crowd. Right before they left the platform, they traded Liam’s levitation charm for a pair of trolleys.

Killian spotted the Dursleys almost immediately. They were huddled outside the station, eyeing everyone that passed by as though they expected them to be a witch or wizard. Killian looked at Emma, waiting for confirmation that this unpleasant looking family was indeed hers. He had hoped… Well, he had hoped that they wouldn't show up for her and she would have to go home with him and Liam, after all. Which was perhaps an awful thing to think, except he knew she would much prefer anywhere to the Dursleys' house.

Emma looked just as disappointed as her aunt and uncle when she caught sight of them.

"I'd better go, before Uncle Vernon gets too testy."

The fat man already looked testy, his great, bushy mustache quivering as he said something to his pinch-faced wife.

Liam pressed his lips together. “My brother told you I got us a telephone, yeah?”

Emma nodded.

Liam pulled a slip of paper out of his pocket. “I know what Dumbledore said, Emma, but if they give you any trouble, you call me. Alright?”

With a quick glance at her family, Emma took the slip of paper and tucked it into her shirt. “I will. Thanks.”

"Well, until next year, Swan," Killian said, sticking his hand out.

She laughed, shaking her head. And then she hugged him.

Killian hugged her back, feeling a little bad that he was already counting down the days until Liam would bring him back to this platform. He couldn’t help it, though.

"Don't forget to call.” Squaring her shoulders, she pushed her trolley in the Dursleys’ direction. Her fat cousin cowered behind his wasp-waisted mother as she approached.

“I wonder what happened there.”

"Who knows?" Liam drawled, slinging his arm around Killian's shoulders. "So… it appears my baby brother has found himself a girlfriend."

"What?" Killian blushed, his ears going warm. "Ew! Liam you're the worst."

His brother laughed, holding his hands up. "Teasing, little brother. I'm teasing."

"That’s still gross."

"Keep thinking that, Killian. It’ll make my life considerably easier," Liam said, lifting his trunk off the trolley. It was a little fuller than it had been at the start of term, but his brother still had no trouble balancing the thing on his shoulders. "Because I'd hate to have to get a job at Hogwarts to keep an eye on you."

Killian snorted. "You'd be so bored. Hardly anything happens at school. It's all classes and homework."

"And defeating the Dark One apparently..."

"That was all Emma. And it won't be like that next year, anyways."

Liam paused, swinging around so he could see Killian.

The silence lasted a moment and Killian got the sneaking suspicion that his brother wanted to bring up what happened beneath the school. He looked very sad.

"I hope not," he said finally. And he smiled. "Now, hurry up. You’ve got a new flat to see.”

"Alright!"

Liam headed for the bus station, Killian trotting beside him and jabbering about everything he had learned at Hogwarts. His brother wasn’t surprised by anything. Not the fact that Professor McGonagall could turn into a cat. Or that Snape was such a wanker. He listened patiently, stopping Killian only while they were on the bus. As they walked the rest of the way home, Killian found himself talking about his harried night under the school without prompting. He wanted Liam to know all about how brave his friends were. Liam looked grim at that part, but it made sense, Emma had almost died, after all.

They reached a little neighborhood, with shrubs around the houses and yards with toys strewn all over them. It wasn’t rundown, but it was the ritziest place Killian had ever seen. It felt quaint after the grandeur of Hogwarts, but Killian decided he liked it.

“Liam,” he said as they passed yet another house, “I thought you said you got a flat.”

“Flats are expensive in the city,” Liam returned.

“Aren’t houses more expensive?”

“They are indeed, but we aren’t living in a house.”

Despite what he said, he turned in at a drive that was very much attached to a house. An old lady knelt in the garden, working with a rose bush. She put down her garden shears as Killian and Liam came into the yard.

“Hello, there Liam, is this your brother?” she asked.

“Good afternoon, Mrs. Wendy,” Liam replied. “Yes, this is Killian. Killian this is Mrs. Wendy, she owns the house.”

“Pleased to meet you, ma’am,” Killian said holding out his hand.

“Oh and he has manners, too,” Mrs. Wendy said, pulling off one of her gardening gloves to shake Killian’s hand. “Well, I won’t keep you boys, I’m sure you’re tired from your journey.”

“Thank you, ma’am,” Liam said. He nodded and let Killian over to the side of the garage.

The garage was a two story yellow building, with wooden siding and a rickety looking staircase. It held, though, as Killian followed Liam up to the second floor. His brother let them in, setting the trunk down at the door.

Killian stood in the doorway, taking it all in. They were in a living room that had clearly been decorated by the old lady he had just met. The overstuffed couch and armchairs had lace doilies draped across their backs and arms. There was a little coffee table with a tea set on, a porcelain set with naked cherubs painted on the sides. The walls were painted a cheerful yellow, paler than the yellow on the outside. There were hints of his brother here, too. A stack of books sitting on the table. A shirt draped over the back of a chair, obscuring one of the doilies.

Liam pulled him inside and closed the door.

“That’s the kitchen,” he said, gesturing to a tiled room, identifiable by the mint green refrigerator visible just inside the door. “And this is the bathroom.” He opened the next door, revealing a blue room with floral tile accents. “And this is your room.”

Killian’s room was much like the rest of the flat, filled with flowers and pastel colors. The bed had a quilt on it that looked handmade and there was a doily stitched to his pillowcase.

“I know it’s probably not quite what you hoped,” Liam started.

“No, it’s perfect, Liam.” He hugged his brother.

Liam snorted. “I wouldn’t exactly call it perfect.”

“You’re here, brother,” Killian said, “that’s all I need.”

Liam opened his mouth to say something, then closed it again, choosing to hug Killian tighter instead.

“You can put your things in that dresser over there,” Liam said. “Why don’t we go get them?”

As Killian followed his brother back into the living room, he noticed something. There was the kitchen and the bathroom and they just left his room, but he didn’t see a door for Liam’s room. And there hadn’t been a second bed in Killian’s room.

“Liam, where is your room?”

Liam stopped, scratching behind his ear. “Well, for now...” He looked around them.

Killian finally noticed the pillow and the blanket folded at the end of the couch.

“You can’t sleep out here!” Killian said. “It’s not fair.”

Liam shrugged. “I’m not spending most of my year with four roommates. I can put up with the couch for a few weeks.”

“But…”

“No buts, Killian, I’m the older brother and it’s my right to sleep where I want.” He ruffled Killian’s hair. “And once you’re gone, that room is all mine. Got it?”

Killian laughed. “Got it.”

It was cozy in the little apartment. Dinner was nice. Nothing like he had at Hogwarts—Liam was a mediocre cook at best—but he got to help make it, so he thought it tasted better.

When Liam finally sent him off to bed, he thought he’d be able to fall asleep right away. But no matter how he lay, the cushioned mattress didn’t feel right. And the blankets were too hot, no matter how many of them he kicked off. And the pillow was lumpy.

And he was lonely.

At last, he got up and padded out into the living room.

Liam was sprawled on the couch’s fold out bed, but Killian thought there was just enough room for him. Quietly, trying not to disturb his brother, Killian climbed in with him. The springs creaked. Killian froze.

Liam snorted and shook himself awake. “Killian?” He sat up. “Everything okay?”

Killian didn’t know how to explain what he was feeling, so he shrugged. “Can I sleep out here with you?”

Liam scooted over without a word, lifting the covers for Killian to crawl under with him. They settled down again, sharing the single pillow. Silence fell and Killian started to drift off.

“Killian?”

“Yeah?”

“I want you to promise me something.”

Killian didn’t say anything to that, waiting.

Liam swallowed. “Listen, I’m glad you found friends and they sound like incredible kids, but next year…” More silence stretched, heavy, like a winter blanket. “Next year, I want you to be more careful, okay? No more fighting Dark Ones.” His brother wrapped his arms around Killian, squeezing him close. “Being brave is all well and good, Killian, but I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you. Okay?”

“Okay.” Killian nodded. He didn’t know what he would do without his brother either. “Hey, Liam?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you think we could go visit Mom sometime soon?”

Another moment of silence.

“Yeah. Yeah, we’ll do that soon, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Sleep now, Killian.”

Killian did.

#captain swan #csbb #emma swan #killian jones #cs crew

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