The puzzle of the soul 6: The black snake

17: Carrow

Pacing was something Lilac had always done.
It wasn't a nervous habit, unlike what some habit she got from Avery.
Where Lilac had learned pacing, she hadn't learned to stress as much yet.

Yet here she was, pacing due to stress.
"Find it!" Lilac called out as she held up the mirror and plopped down on Regulus' bed. His room was where Lilac often was now. She figured that Sirius' room was alright as well, but Harry often was there, so... now she lay staring up at the mirror, hoping that one of her dormitory mates back at Hogwarts weren't brainless.

"Lilac?" The voice of Jones suddenly said.
Finally Jones had found the mirror.

Lilac gasped then grinned at the face which stared down at her in confusion. As she sat up she immediately started, "I know what to do to win— is anyone else there—"

"Lilac, calm down." Jones with a small grin of her own, "Let's first... are you and Tyran alright?"

"Yes, we are safe as can be, how about you and the others?" Lilac said.

"Not much worse than your hair, have you even got a hairbrush?" Jones looked at Lilac sternly.

"I've been busy." Lilac deadpanned.

"Yes, well, I've found the note." Jones said, "I'm sorry it took a while, but I think we've got some trouble on our ends."

"Really?" Lilac asked, "How so?"

"Well, for one, the Carrows have gotten worse, that friend of yours, Lovegood has disappeared as well..." Jones seemed to sit down on her bed, "And don't be mad, but I think Avery's er... joining the dark side? Is that how you say it?"

"That's a muggle movie reference." Lilac muttered, "But okay."

"Okay?" Jones frowned, "You're just saying okay to this?"

"Look, Jones, I don't even know wether you were there that night," Lilac tried to reason with herself that maybe Avery wasn't fully knowing what he was doing, "but I can't change what he did."

"That night..." Jones mumbled, "Yeah, I was there... Shane as well... I'm sorry."

"What for?" Lilac frowned.

"I didn't help." Jones said as she looked away.

"Either way, we're fine." Lilac shrugged, "And at least you didn't pull an Avery."

At that Jones let out a small laugh.
"I've got charms in a moment, tell me the next step quickly." She said calmly.

"The next step, is convincing Amycus Carrow to be on my side."

"Huh."

*

Jones didn't understand.
How was she supposed to convince some cruel person to change their loyalties without getting killed?
In Dark Arts Jones sat on her usual spot, staring at where Lilac and Tyran usually sat. People avoided their old seats, they avoided their names to be cautious as Amycus and Alecto didn't appreciate them.
Maybe Lilac thought the fact that Amycus had her as a favourite was a good thing? Well, his thoughts about her seemed to have changed, by a lot.
Lilac was now known as a blood traitor, a filth and a shame. The mention of her was worth a 'detention'.

With a sigh, Jones left the class.
This was going to be useless!

"Oh, hey... Shane Fillian." Jones noticed him suddenly and realised something.

His face still had some bruises. They had questioned him about Tyran and Lilac, but he ended up saying horrible things about them to stay alive. That night had been horrible, but Jones did know that Shane's loyalty to Lilac didn't end anywhere.
With a sigh, Jones grabbed his arm and pulled him into a cupboard, giving him a look that meant something else to those out in the corridor.