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xxxi. Dig Your Grave
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DESPITE HARRY'S DETENTIONS stopping her from seeing much of him, she's really glad he somehow managed to avoid having one on the day of the final Qudditch match, where they could win the House Cup. She makes her way down to watch him play, elated that she's watching it with Seamus. They finally had a catch up with Dean the other day, and she told them she's going out with Harry. Dean laughed, and said it was about time, and Seamus agreed. The match is very well-played, and Thea's so happy that when Harry catches the Snitch, and Gryffindor wins, she sprints down towards the pitch with Seamus.

Thea can make out Ron chatting with Hermione, who's smiling widely. Half of the people surrounding the players are spectators, hugging their friends. Thea can see Dean running towards them, and he pulls Seamus into a hug. She can hear him call her name, but Thea breaks into a little run, her heart pounding out of her chest, flames pumping around her veins. She passes Jude, whose attention she seems to catch, but she doesn't stop. Just keeps pushing through the sea of red and green surrounding her.

Her gaze is set on Harry, who's talking to Fred and George. He turns and looks at her, and Thea can see the soft smile on his face. Her face breaks into a grin as he opens his arms for her, and as she's close enough to see the emerald green shining in his eyes, she jumps right into them, her arms around his neck. In the excitement of everything, Harry's lifted her up, and she wraps her legs around his waist. She thinks her heart might burst out of her chest, and everything she was supposed to say evaporates out of her body. The consequences of this fly miles away, and Thea doesn't care about anything but Harry in this moment. She doesn't care who sees that she loves him. All she can do is stare into his eyes, and he does the same.

Now or never, she thinks.

Then, she leans down and kisses him.

Finally is the only word she can think of. Everything else melts away as her arms wrap around his neck, and she loses herself in the moment. The raging in her heart is no match for the warmth she feels, and she can't help a smile from breaking out on her face when they break apart. The roars around them are so loud she thinks they might burst her eardrums, but she's happier than she's ever been.

"Well played, Potter," she says, grinning at him.

He stares at her with a smile, and a soft look in his eyes.

"You're total chaos, Cindercroft."

Thea can hear the excited cheers around them, and she jumps down and takes Harry's hand.

"Let's go, champ!"

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By what feels like the three-hundredth person asking, the question "Are you actually going out with Harry Potter?" starts to become very tedious, and her feeling of wanting to grab the person asking into a hug and sing "Yes!" with glee turns into her having to bite back a scowl and a spit of "Keep your beak out."

"Ginny was..." Dean's voice causes her turn around and grin, as she hands him the glass of butterbeer she was saving him as she surveys the many people covered in red and gold, chatting and shouting and eating. "...surprised by the news of you and Harry."

Thea frowns. "Really?"

"Yeah! She's happy for you though, especially when I told her it was about time you got together."

Thea scoffs, "About time, my arse. It was hardly –"

"You two have fancied each other for well over a year, so don't give me that rubbish." Dean folds his arms across his chest, taking a swig of his drink.

"Like you can talk," she shoots back, giving him a pointed stare and a soft dig in his side.

"What d'you mean?" he hides behind his cup, his gaze averting from Thea to anything or anyone else.

"Me and Harry are stubborn, but it hasn't taken us six years to come around..." Thea trails off, as though she doesn't know how this will go down.

"Me and Ginny haven't even known each other for six years." Dean frowns, his head tilted to the side as he stares at his friend, right in the eyes.

Thea sighs loudly. "I'm not talking about Ginny, I'm talking about the one you actually like."

"Who, Seamus?" Dean chokes on his drink after realising what he said as Thea floats away, a smile lingering on her face that she can't wipe away.

She saunters over to Ron and Hermione, grinning at the sight of their glowing faces and Ron's white knuckles gripping the Cup trophy.

"Hi." is all she can say.

Hermione beams at her. "Hello."

Ron stares at her.

"What?" she frowns at Ron, who tilts his head.

"Are you actually going out with Harry?"

"No. It's all an elaborate plan to get people to talk about us even more because we both absolutely love that." She glares at Ron when he only looks even more confused. "Yes, I'm going out with Harry, dickhead." she huffs, his tone irritating her. What's his problem?

Hermione snickers. "Ron's just annoyed because he lost a bet with the twins."

Thea feels a presence fall into place beside her, and warmth spreads through her whole body when she feels the familiar hand slip into hers.

"He's now five Galleons down because that bet was that you two wouldn't end up together by the end of the year, and lo and behold..." Hermione gestures towards Thea and Harry, who raise their eyebrows at Ron.

"Ten Galleons, actually; they wanted five each," Ron grumbles, "And besides, Thea did snog –"

"I'm going to make a bet on how long you're going to last if you finish that sentence," Thea snaps, tightening her fingers around Harry's. "It won't be longer than five seconds." Thea smiles sweetly up at Ron, who rolls his eyes, the corners of his mouth turning up into an uncontrollable smile.

"All jokes aside, I'm happy for you – and since you're both my best mates, Harry, if you hurt her I'll kill you, and Thea, if you hurt him I'll kill you."

"Dickhead."

"You've already called me that."

"I'll do it again –"

"How do you actually hold so much rage inside that tiny body of yours?" Ron gapes at Thea.

"It's because she's so small," Harry replies, earning a dig in the side. "It's like double strength orange squash."

"Keep digging your grave, Potter," she hums.

"Seems like all that's left is for him to lie in it," Hermione says.

"Fancy a walk?" Harry mutters quietly in Thea's ear, to which she nods.

"We're going for some air," Thea announces, "See you later."

She spins on her heel and pulls Harry after her out of the portrait before Ron can make an inappropriate comment.

"How are you feeling?" Harry asks her sincerely once they're alone, their hands still entwined.

Her chest ignites almost on cue, and she leans against him in an attempt to stay standing. Her eyes sting at the agony that's almost unbearable, and somehow nastier than the last time she felt it. Lean arms wrap around her waist and pull her back into the present.

"I'm going to guess not good. We're going to –"

"No, we're not going to Madame Pomfrey, Harry. She can't do anything for me." she looks up into his eyes, which are helpless and concerned. "I'm OK, Harry. I just want to have this time to forget about everything that's going on, please."

"Thea, you basically just passed out on me." Harry points out in a strained voice, keeping his arms firmly against her back as though she'll crumble if he doesn't. Thea relaxes into the certainty of him, feeling her worries slip away like they were never there in the first place.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

She smiles. "You have lovely eyes."

She leans up and presses a kiss to his lips, then to his cheek.

"Relax, Harry. I'm fine." She says firmly, reaching up and running her hands over his tense shoulders. "I'm happier than I've been in a very, very long time."

It's so true that she curses herself for ever thinking there was a choice.

"Me too," he breathes out, his lips ghosting her forehead.

✦

Her heart sinks right into the pit of her stomach every time Eden, Draco and Jude breeze past her amongst the whispers about Potter and Cindercroft canoodling, or snogging, as her classmates like to put it so respectfully.

She's always on the tip of her toes to see past shoulders and brush past cloaked students, but they always disappear every time their name has fallen off her tongue.

Her heart sinks even further into her stomach as the nights draw longer and summer creeps in, bringing, not sunshine and working outside, but tighter locked windows, harsher whispers and stifling nights of anxiety leaving her hanging out of the window in her dorm as Polly and the others sleep, oblivious to her sobs and cold sweats and flames.

Her only solace comes from Harry. She's lay across a sofa in the common room one evening, her head in his lap and her eyes trained on Ron and Hermione in a bean bag each, opposite. The pair are bickering lightly over a game of Exploding Snap, which she never thought she'd catch Hermione playing, but alas. She guesses it's a distraction. Everyone takes whatever distraction they can these days, especially those four.

The end of June finally sinks in, and Thea's sick to her stomach as she watches Harry make his way to Dumbledore's office.

"He'll be fine," Ron says, placing a hand on her shoulder. "He's with Dumbledore."

Thea sighs. "Yeah, but I'm still scared for him."

The trio fall silent as they make their way through the castle, with no destination in mind.

Thea falls back into her thoughts, flashing back to the other night when Harry told her about his lessons with Dumbledore and that he was learning all about Tom Riddle and his Horcruxes. Thea had frowned, and asked why on earth Dumbledore didn't just tell Harry everything. Harry had shrugged and said Dumbledore knows what he's doing. She scoffed and said, "I'm sure he does," to which Harry's face hardened and he asked what her problem was. Harry's icy tone told her not to suggest to him that Dumbledore seems to have an agenda and the whole thing is just weird, so she fell silent and turned back to Frankenstein, and held the book so tight her knuckles went white.

Her mind flashes back to her father's memory, her father's path, and she wonders how  Dumbledore had carved his path towards the greater good.

Thea parts ways with the other two when they tell her they're tired and are going to return to the common room. She offers them a weak nod and smile before carrying on, only to let out a gasp of surprise when Jude and Eden come tearing around the corner and pull her after them, giving her no choice but to run.

"What in the name of Merlin are you doing?" she hisses, rubbing her arm which she's sure will bruise due to how hard Eden had a hold of it.

She glares at their faces that look like they're about to break with fear as they finally come to a stop in a discreet corner, hidden by knight's armour. Her stomach twists uncomfortably, and her face falls. She knows whatever they're about to tell her is going to be terrible. Her mind jumps to Harry.

"What happened?" she asks immediately, her tone urgent.

The pair glance at each other.

"They're here Thea. And they're..." Jude starts, but his voice trails off. Before she can demand him to finish, Eden cuts in.

"They're after you. And Dumbledore."

She thinks suddenly of Draco and it starts to make sense, her heart lurching.

"How the hell did they get in?"

"That doesn't matter!" Jude bursts out. "Thea, you need to get out of the castle."

"Absolutely not." She folds her arms across her chest and shoots him a stubborn look she knows he was expecting. "Where are they?"

"Coming through on the seventh floor," Eden says.

That explains why they barrelled into her earlier. She was on the seventh floor.

"Right. Thanks for the warning." She ties her loose waves up into a ponytail, then pulls her wand from her pocket. Meanwhile, Eden and Jude keep staring at her in bewilderment.

"What?"

"You're a literal nutter, Cinders," Jude breathes out, shaking his head before pulling her into a hug.

Her eyes widen and she freezes a little, before she slowly loops her arms around his neck. She's missed him a little bit. "Be careful," he mutters, before stepping away.

Thea notices her cousin's absence.

"She went to find Luna, I think."

"Cute."

They stand opposite, Jude wringing his hands and Thea twirling the curls in her face around her fingers.

"Bye, I guess."

Thea smiles before turning around and leaving so this doesn't get anymore awkward.

She hears Jude's voice call behind her.

"Lyra's here."

Thea feels her breath catch, but she doesn't falter and she doesn't show how terrified she is to see the woman again. She turns and keeps walking backwards.

"Give her this from me," she raises her middle finger, and she only just catches Jude's amused smile before she turns back around and rounds a corner.

Muffled screams, spells and crashes float into her ears from below, and before she even think about it, she finds herself racing towards the source where the chaos is breaking out, her breathing steady and her wand gripped tightly in her right hand.

She just comes to a stop at the bottom of the stairs, when a cackle fills her ears.

"You must be stupid to show your face here."

A jet of green comes flying towards her, and misses her by an inch. The Killing Curse.

She feels adrenaline fill her veins as she points her own wand and shouts, "Bombarda!" at the ground before Octavia Hedge, ignoring the nausea swimming in her stomach at the screams in the background.

The woman falls backwards, aiming jets of light at where Thea was stood, failing to realise that the girl's running again, after noticing Ron being cornered by two Death Eaters.

"Oh, I've been waiting for you," says one of them, a man with a slick moustache and a mouth full of yellow teeth.

"I don't even know who you are, you sick freak," Thea snarls back, sending a Stunning spell that he blocks with ease.

"Lyra's sprog, aren't ya? We're told you're a chip off the old block – "

The man's words seem to catch in his throat as Thea channels all the fury in her body and hurls "Petrificus Totalus!" at him. She runs away again, shaking her head to try and rid herself of the thoughts of how much pain she wants to cause these people. She can't stoop to their level...she won't...she won't.

Terror fills her veins when she sees a familiar head of red hair, swishing and moving in some sort of rhythm. She watches Ginny Weasley battling with Octavia Hedge, and all she can feel is her heart plummeting to the ground. Octavia will have no mercy. She races over and shouts to Ginny. "I'll take over! You need to get out!"

"I'm staying –"

Thea pushes the flushed girl out of the way of her aunt's stream of green, ducking herself and hearing something behind her smash, but all she can focus on is the smirking woman in front of her.

"I'll take care of her. She'll try and kill, and I'm not letting that happen to you, Ginny."

"You, again? Don't you ever learn?" Octavia sneers, raising her wand at Thea.

"Incendio!" Thea shouts, pointing her wand at the space just above her aunt's head. The spell is blocked almost lazily.

"You want flames?" Octavia grins, twirling her wand and snapping, "I'll give you hell! Crucio!"

Thea feels her airways tighten and her lungs explode all at once. Her head feels like it's trying to break away from her body, and her skull compresses against her brain, and she thinks for a second that she hears a sickening crack. Her legs buckle and she falls to the ground, which is dusty and hard underneath her convulsing body. All she's aware of is her agony, and this is nothing compared to what she's felt before.

"Expelliarmus!" shouts a voice.

The agony stops, and Thea finds herself climbing to her feet again, her eyes widening when she sees Dean, seething and bright-faced, locked in a duel with her aunt.

"Dean!"

"Go," is all he manages, as he dodges Octavia's spells. "Now!"

His voice is so strong and final that she breaks into a sprint again, her body not weakened by her torture but hardened and rougher. She feels the hunger for power crawl into her throat, and she can't swallow down the bitter taste until she almost collides with someone.

"Harry! Thank God!" she throws herself into his arms for a second, before they're running beside each other, and she reaches for his hand.

"What happened?" she manages to get out as they pick their way through duels and broken debris of the ceiling and the staircase bannisters.

"Snape killed him," is all he gets out.

She knows instantly that him is Dumbledore. Before fear can take over, relief floods her body as she realises second that Draco did nothing.

Then she sees her.

She sees the high cheekbones and the long, dark blonde hair tied back like hers. She sees the eyes that are almost a mirror of hers, and the cold, commanding look on the woman's face.

She sees the look that's for her. Lyra is staring dead at her daughter, but Thea's focus is ripped away from the woman as Harry's hand slips from hers and he darts off before she can say anything. She looks around helplessly now, but her body's electrified with rage when she hears Lyra's voice right by her ear.

"Oh, Theabel. Let's talk outside, shall we?"

"Lyra, we gotta go –"

The person's voice freezes in their throat and they drop to the ground. Dead.

Thea's blood turns to ice as she's dragged from the castle by her mother, the woman's vice-like grip not wavering in the slightest, despite Thea's fighting it.

They finally reach the castle grounds as Thea rips the woman's hand off her.

"Don't touch me," she snarls.

"I just want to talk." Lyra's voice is smooth and measured, which only sends more desire to hurt her driving up Thea's spine. Before she can stop it, Thea finds the word tumbling off her lips.

"Crucio –"

"Incendio!" Lyra's spell cuts across Thea's, and the flames attach themselves to Thea's body like she's their master.

"You think I can't handle a little fire?" Thea shouts over the inferno in her mind and her body.

"I gave you your flames, Theabel! You think I can't take them away?" the woman roars back, angry now.

"I'd like to see you try!" Thea shouts. "Opugno!" her wand flicks a collection of stones by her feet into Lyra's face, who screams out in fury.

Thea's taking in the blood streaming down the woman's face, just as she shouts a spell back.

"Incarcerous!"

Thea's entire body binds together, and she feels the power start to drain, but the flames don't die. She's sure they never will. She sees a red-orange mist in front of her eyes, and she's aware of nothing but herself, Lyra and the fire inside her. This time, she feels it. She feels her eyes drifting shut, and then she thinks she hears Harry scream her name.

She thinks...

Everything's hazy, but then hands grip her motionless face. She doesn't know whether she's sat or on the floor, or still stood up...

Death creeps in. Her mind flicks back to Jude's words; give in. She knows this fire is going to swallow her whole, but all the fight in her body is drained. Lyra's face swims into sight and then her lips are moving but Thea isn't hearing anything, because she's dying. She doesn't know whether to think finally, or beg for her life, but before she can make a decision, everything starts to fade away.

The last thing she feels are comforting arms slipping around her, but Harry's voice sinks into the distance as he says, "Don't you dare die on me,"... she doesn't have the energy to cling onto it, as she slips away and her flames stop for good.

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A/N: Hello everyone, hope you've been enjoying. Just wanted to clear up that yes, I did change this a little bit and made Harry play in the final match even though he's in detention in the book. Just thought it would work best for the story <3