Legilimens

| Seventeen |

27 June, 1998

Josephine collapsed in her bed during the early hours of the morning, utterly exhausted. Only hours ago, she had been held in a cellar, trying to stay lucid, and Ronald had appeared out of nowhere to save them. She had thought he had been a dream, an hallucination created by the Draught of Despair that had been forced down her throat by a cackling witch. But it turned out Ron was very much real, as were the other Order members who ran into the room and helped them all escape. The shrill alarm resonating around them had only amplified her headache, and Josie had closed her eyes. When she had opened them again, she found herself standing in the middle of the living room of Andromeda's house. Seconds later, the older witch that had served as a motherly figure for the past months had grabbed her into a tight hug.

Finally, she was safe. She had sighed in relief, then made her way towards the stairs to sleep the night off in a warm and comfortable bed, only to be held back by a severe looking Kingsley Shacklebolt demanding the truth about the "death" of Harry Potter. Josephine knew she had to come clean with the Order, once and for all, but she didn't know exactly how much she should reveal of Draco's plan. She doubted they would trust her – and Draco – anyway. And who could blame them? After all, he was a known Death Eater, and what if their plan of saving Harry Potter was really a ploy to help Lord Voldemort gain even more power? Josephine trusted Draco, completely. But after everything he and his family had done over the years, she could understand why the Order wouldn't be so willing to trust a Malfoy.

She had then decided to reveal parts of the truth to Shacklebolt, telling him everything she knew, excluding Draco's part in the plan. It took hours to convince him she was actually on their side, and when finally, they all left, Josie released a sigh of relief and stood up from the stiff chair, already dreaming of her bed, when Dromeda stopped her. The older witch's hands were full of phials, and she would not take no for an answer when Josie tried to go to bed, unhealed. They had spent the next hour trying healing spells and potions to help the pain subside, and Josie was exhausted, falling asleep the moment her head touched the pillow. 

***

Her dreams that night were anything but peaceful. It was the first time in weeks she was able to sleep on something softer than concrete, she should've fell like a rock. But instead, she found herself turning and breaking out in cold sweat. She couldn't have been dreaming for more than a few minutes when her slumber turned into the strangest of dreams.

It almost felt too real, the voices, the smells, the chill running down her spine. The corpse laying in front of her was oddly familiar, and a cry caught in her throat when she noticed the figure standing behind it. Invincible, master of Death. Then the dream changed, only the roles were reversed now. The frail body of the Dark Lord laid lifelessly on the ground, the smile on Harry Potter's face grand. But she watched as his smile disappeared as people around, friends and family, died, while he stayed young and alone.

Josephine woke up, tears running down her cheeks, and the ring burning on her finger. She hastily removed it and gasped as she noticed the word burned on her skin.

Stone.

Josephine knew this could only mean one thing. Voldemort had found the stone, and her dream hadn't been a dream after all. But a vision.

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If you're reading this, I just want to thank you for sticking with this short filler chapter!
I know it wasn't much, but it'll be important in the long run.

Gabrielle xx