Legilimens

| One |

2 May, 1998

"No matter what happens, stick to the plan, Josie."

Those final words were the only thing Josephine Capet could think of at the moment. Screams of pain and cries were coming from every corner of the castle, and the smell of death was in the air. Many of the corpses laying lifelessly on the ground were people her age, some her friends, some her enemies. The scene felt too familiar. This was the final battle; Harry Potter would finally defeat the Dark Lord once and for all. Or so, people hoped. Carefully, Josephine made her way slowly around the castle, but couldn't find him anywhere. Death wasn't an option, they needed him, she needed him. Unlike the other students and the members of Dumbledore's Army and the Order of the Phoenix, Josephine wasn't scared of using the unforgivable curses, and had no difficulty meaning them. This was war, and unlike Harry Potter, she could not always rely on an Expelliarmus. Aiming her wand at a Death Eater and shouting the Cruciatus or the Killing curses didn't even make her blink. Right now, all she felt was numb. She could regret her actions later, but first, she had to find Draco before the return of the Dark Lord and his army. She caught a glimpse of his silver white locks as the doors of the Great Hall shattered to pieces under the spell of a servant of the Dark Lord.

Lord Voldemort, followed by his supporters, entered the room. You could hear the cackles of Bellatrix' maniacal laughter, and the Dark Lord himself seemed pleased with himself. Behind him stood the half-giant Hagrid, a desperate look in his eyes and fat tears splattering down his chin onto a lifeless body. A nervous Ginny Weasley advanced forward, then spoke.

"Who is that Hagrid's carrying? Neville, who is it?"

She didn't want to believe it. It couldn't be Harry. Everyone had gathered before the enemy and his army, but no one wanted to hear the answer. Slowly making her way to the front, Josephine stopped at the edge of the crowd just in time to catch the frightening smile curving Lord Voldemort's thin lips before he yelled.

"Harry Potter...is dead!"

From across the Great Hall, you could hear Ginny's broken scream and the collective gasp, and above all, the piercing scream of Professor McGonagall, whose knees had buckled. She was caught at the last second by Molly Weasley, who was crying soundlessly. Josephine stood stoically, waiting for the only opportunity she would have to flee. Feeling a presence behind her, she tipped her head sideways and stared into the pale eyes of Draco Malfoy without uttering a word; none were needed, they both knew what they needed to do. His hair was all over the place, his clothes covered in ashes and blood was running down his nose.

"From this day forth, you put your faith... in me." Voldemort announced before turning around to his army and yelling excitedly. "Harry Potter is dead!"

Hate and fear were rolling off the members of the Order and of the DA, but no one dared to speak.

"And now, it is the time to declare yourself. Come forward and join us... or die."

Before anyone could move, Lucius Malfoy called his son's name.

"Come, Draco."

Draco gently squeezed Josephine's hand and discreetly handed her a small object wrapped in a cloth, before reluctantly walking away towards the Dark Lord and his parents. Josie closed her hand firmly around the familiar object and watched him walk away, trying as hard as possible not to follow him to the other side of the room. Her place was by his side, not amongst all these other people, mostly strangers who distrusted her.  She kept her eyes on him when the Dark Lord embraced Draco in a hug, when he joined his mother and ignored his father, even when Neville Longbottom spoke up to the Dark Wizard. She only broke contact when she heard yells around her. The Dark Lord had summoned the Sorting Hat, which had been placed on Neville's head, inflamed. Lord Voldemort released a laugh that sounded maniacal to Josephine's ears, but the laugh died on his lips as Neville got the hat off his head and extracted a shiny sword from the depth of the material. Raising it above his head, he aimed it at the large snake, Nagini, but missed. The Dark Lord yelled in outrage and blasted a spell at the courageous Wizard. Neville crashed into the wall of the Great Hall and collapsed on the floor, uncounscious. As if waiting for this particular sign of their master, the Death Eaters marched forward, casting spell after spell at the resistance.