The fire was dying down to soft embers. Most of the younger Gryffindors had been herded upstairs to sleep—or at least tried to—but Nova sat curled up in an armchair by the hearth, her knees pulled to her chest.
She was tall for her age, red curls spilling down one side, blue eyes reflecting the flickering light. Her wand was in her sleeve, fingers twitching every time the flames crackled too loudly.
She hated waiting.She hated not knowing.
Molly Weasley, her grandmother, had told her she was "safe" here.But Nova wasn't so sure anymore.
From upstairs, whispers echoed down the staircase—kids gossiping about the bleeding, the visions, the lockdown. About James and Rose.
Nova shut her eyes. James said he'd teach her that Bat-Bogey Hex soon.
Then suddenly—
A low crack.
Every portrait in the room went still.
The fire flared blue.
Nova jerked upright.
Downstairs, near the entrance to the common room, a faint ripple shimmered against the air—just outside the Fat Lady's portrait.
She wasn't singing anymore.
She was frozen, staring at the door with pure terror in her eyes
A sharp ripple of protective magic pulsed through the walls.
McGonagall looked up from the Marauder's Map spread across her desk. "Someone just tried to enter through Gryffindor Tower."
Harry's head whipped around. "Students?"
"No. Not a student. No password given. They didn't ask to come in—they pushed."
Hermione raised her wand. "An intruder?"
But then George, scanning another magical perimeter tracker, narrowed his eyes. "Wait. The trace isn't foreign."
Fred leaned closer. "This signature… It's familiar."
A second pulse rang through the castle.
Suddenly, a glowing mark appeared on the Marauder's Map. Faint, flickering… but visible.
Ron whispered: "Seamus Finnigan."
Everyone froze.
"No one's seen him in years," Harry said. "Not since Minerva and Daisy vanished."
"Why now?" asked Ginny. "Why come now?"
They bolted to their feet.
McGonagall's eyes narrowed. "We find him. Immediately."
The corridor outside the portrait was glowing faintly blue with protective enchantments.
A figure stood just beyond the wards—shaggy hair, older, worn down by time and worry. A thick cloak half-covered his face, but his wand was raised in surrender.
Seamus.
"Long time, no see?" He said with a weak smile
He looked older, more gaunt than they remembered, and his robes scorched as though he'd walked through fire. He looked nothing like the boy they once knew. He looked around quickly, eyes wary—until they landed on McGonagall, then Ron, Hermione, George, Fred, Alicia, and finally Harry and Ginny.
Hermione stepped forward. "Seamus? What on earth—where have you been?"
"Off the map," he muttered. "Couldn't risk contact—not with her watching." They all walked to the great hall.
Fred exchanged a glance with Alicia. "You mean Minerva?"
Seamus's eyes hardened. "No. Not her. I told you before. She—the one behind the vanishings, the voices, the time fractures—she's not Minerva. The one you're seeing in dreams, the girl screaming, that's Minerva trying to warn you. But the one hunting… that's something else entirely."
Ginny's grip tightened around Harry's hand. "Who?"
Seamus glanced around the room, his voice dropping. "The one who bends time like thread… the one who cursed Daisy, who's coming for James and Rose. They call her—" his voice trembled, "The Devil of Time," he said as they entered the Great Hall.
"I have heard that name before somewhere...." Luna said, not in her usual dreamy voice, but in a stern voice that they had never heard before, which made them jump.
"Luna!" Ginny screamed Whose wand was at the ready again, "You scared us!"
"How did you get through the barrier?" McGonagall asked, shocked, but Seamus looked impatient, tapping his wand on his leg.
"Hagrid sensed me and opened the barrier, Seamus, where have you been all this time?" Luna asked without waiting for McGonagall's reply.
"We don't have time. You have questions—fine. But after. Where is she?"
"Who—?" McGonagall started.
"Nova," Luna said before he could reply. Seamus nodded, looking shocked at Luna. Luna gave him a 'I'll tell you later look' so he looked back at McGonagall, who still hadn't replied.
"She's in the Gryffindor common room," said Ginny hesitantly, exchanging a glance with Harry. "Molly and Arthur brought her in earlier."
Seamus turned to McGonagall, eyes narrowed. "Password."
"Begonia Firewhip," she said calmly, and Seamus gave a single sharp nod.
Then, without another word, he sprinted up the marble staircase, his boots echoing through the corridors. Luna followed, saying she knew what he was doing.
Back in the common room, Nova was curled on one of the squashy red armchairs, half-asleep, when the portrait door swung open.
She jumped up as the unfamiliar man stormed in.
"Who are you?" she asked, blinking.
Seamus stared at her for a long moment—his eyes softening, his voice barely a whisper. "You've grown."
Nova backed up a step. "Do I… know you?"
"No. You wouldn't. I left before you were born," he said. "But you're in danger, and I'm the one who failed to stop it."
"What? Aunt Luna!"
"Seamus turned and saw Luna entering right behind him.
They didn't explain. She stepped forward, gently but firmly grabbing her arm. "We don't have time. Come on.
Seamus and Luna descended the stairs two at a time, Nova following behind, clearly confused. The adults turned as they reappeared, now deadly serious.
"Keep your eyes on her," Luna said sharply. "At all times. You don't understand. She's the only one who's awake. The others—they're marked."
Fred stepped forward. "Marked? You mean James and Rose?"
Seamus nodded grimly. "We're past dreams now. The Devil of Time has moved. Four are already touched—Minerva, Daisy, and the two unconscious students. Now it's James and Rose."
Hermione paled. "They're still bleeding…"
"Then we have no time left," Seamus muttered.
"Take us to them," Luna replied
The moment they entered the ward, Seamus's face hardened. McGonagall stayed back at the Great Hall with Molly and Arthur while the others went to the Hospital wing.
James was propped up weakly, pale as a sheet, his neck wrapped in stained bandages. Rose was beside him, awake but trembling. Blood soaked through new bandages even as Madam Pomfrey waved her wand helplessly.
"They just won't stop bleeding," she whispered. "I've tried everything."
Nova gasped. "They're… awake?"
"Barely," Pomfrey muttered. "It's as if their bodies are rejecting time itself."
Luna knelt beside them, her eyes flicking over the bruises, the cuts, the silent tears in their eyes.
"Hey," she whispered. "You saw her again, didn't you?"
James flinched. Rose nodded slowly. "She was smiling this time," she whispered hoarsely. "Like she was glad we were still alive."
"Who is she?" Nova asked quietly.
Seamus turned to the others. His expression darkened.
"We protect Nova at all costs. Because if she falls…" he glanced at the others gravely, "we lose them all."
Everyone went still.
James stared up at Seamus, wincing as blood trailed from his nose again. "She… the girl in our visions… she doesn't feel evil."
Rose whispered, "She looked scared. Like she was warning us. Not hurting us."
Seamus exhaled sharply and ran a hand down his face. "That's because she's not the enemy."
"What do you mean?" Hermione asked, her voice tight.
Seamus turned to face them all fully, his tone grave. "The girl with the red hair and green eyes—that's Minerva."
Harry flinched. "Minerva? But… she's....gone....."
"She's not gone," Seamus said. "She's trapped. Fighting across time, trying to warn you. She's the only one breaking through."
The room fell deathly quiet.
"You're saying the one in our visions isn't the one attacking us?" James asked slowly.
"No," Luna confirmed. "She's trying to save them."
Rose folded her arms, brow furrowed. "Then who's doing this to us?"
Seamus's face darkened.
"I don't know her name, only what she became. We called her the Devil of Time. A curse born from fractured prophecy and twisted fate. She doesn't walk like the others. She moves through cracks in time—pulling threads, vanishing people, rewriting pain."
Rose shivered.
Luna continued, voice low. "She's been waiting for the prophecy to stir. And when it did… she marked four. Minerva. Daisy. James. Rose. The others fell quickly, but James and Rose resisted. That's why they're bleeding."
"Bleeding time," muttered Madam Pomfrey, horrified.
Seamus nodded. "She couldn't drag them fully into her realm, so she's punishing their bodies for staying here."
"And Minerva?" Nova asked, voice small. "She's still… fighting?"
"She's slipping through cracks," Luna said. "Projecting herself into visions, dreams, reflections. Wherever she can reach them. She's trying to warn you all."
Hermione stepped closer, her hands trembling. "So the red-haired girl—the one they kept seeing, the one we all thought was behind it…"
"...was our ally," Seamus said quietly. "And no one saw it."
Harry looked toward James, then Rose, who had tears in her eyes now.
"She told me once," Rose whispered, "Don't believe what you see. I thought it was a trick."
Seamus shook his head. "It wasn't. She's still fighting. But the Devil of Time is closer than we think. And if Nova is the only one awake…"
He turned to the girl, sitting before her. "Then everything depends on you."
Nova looked around, fear in her eyes. "But I don't even know what to do. I haven't even attended Hogwarts yet."
"You will know what to do," Luna said, resting a hand on her shoulder. "Because she'll find a way to reach you, too."
A sudden gust of wind rattled the windowpanes.
Everyone turned.
"She already has," whispered James.
The hospital wing was tense, filled with murmured theories and the heavy air of something ancient and terrifying. No one noticed the door inch open—until the glimmer of James's Invisibility Cloak faded from view.
Suddenly, three very guilty faces appeared: Lily, Albus, and Hugo.
They froze mid-squat like deer caught in Lumos light.
Angelina spun around. "And what exactly do you three think you're doing here?"
Hugo tried to smile. "Surprise…?"
Hermione stood, arms crossed. "Is that James's cloak?"
Albus coughed. "Temporarily borrowed…"
"Without permission," Harry finished, giving them the look.
"You snuck into the hospital wing during a lockdown?" George said, incredulous.
"You could've triggered half the protective wards!" Bill added, sounding genuinely alarmed.
"And what if it hadn't been Seamus at the gates, huh?" Fleur snapped, eyes flashing. "What if it had been her?"
Ron pointed at them all dramatically. "You lot have definitely inherited the worst bits of all of us."
Hermione muttered, "Especially the sneaking-around part."
George smirked at Ron. "You're just mad because they're better at it than we were."
"Oi!" Ron shot back. "At least we had the decency to get caught after saving the world."
"Which they are not going to try," Harry cut in firmly.
Lily opened her mouth, but Ginny raised a hand.
"No heroic nonsense. No secret missions. No leaving the Common Room after curfew. You're all grounded."
"You can't ground us at Hogwarts," Lily mumbled.
"I'm your mother," Ginny said, eyes narrowed. "Watch me."
Before the three could backpedal further, Rose let out a small gasp from her bed. "Wait—how much did you hear?"
Lily hesitated and said. "All of it."
"Every single word," Albus echoed, still pale. "About the Devil of Time. Minerva in the visions. The vanishing. Nova…"
Hugo looked toward Nova. "You're the one who's still awake?"
Nova blinked. "I guess so... I didn't know until just now."
Seamus stayed silent, looking through a few old books he conjured out of thin air, but Luna stepped forward gently. "It's all true. We didn't want to drag you into this yet. But Seamus has been working to protect the school—especially James, Rose, and Nova."
Albus's voice came out small. "So what happens now?"
Fred crossed his arms. "Now? Now you three are marching back to Gryffindor Tower."
"No cloak," added Angelina.
"No detours," George warned.
"No excuses," Hermione finished, her eyes narrowing at Hugo, who looked seconds from trying one.
But Seamus, still holding a half-burnt book, turned to them slowly. "You weren't meant to hear all this yet… but maybe it's good that you did. Because now you know what we're up against. And now you'll take it seriously."
He looked directly at Albus, then Lily, then Hugo.
"Because whether we like it or not… the storm's coming for all of us."
"You three wait for some time," Luna said, whipping out her wand and waving it around the three of them, her lips moving silently. She signaled Alica, and she started muttering spells in some ancient language and tapping her wand on their heads.
"It's not safe for you to go immediately. wait for a few minutes until you go," Luna said, still waving her wand around them. "The spells can be broken if you move out immediately."
The light from Luna's wand shimmered gold, weaving through the air like strands of thread. Alicia's incantations—soft but ancient—echoed against the ward walls, chilling in a way that had nothing to do with the temperature.
"What are you doing?" Albus asked, trying to stay still as glowing runes formed around him.
"Checking for traces," Luna replied, her voice distant. "You overheard everything… but we don't know what else overheard through you."
That made everyone freeze.
Even Seamus snapped his gaze toward the children, wand raised defensively now.
"You think they're marked?" Hermione asked, voice shaking slightly.
"Not marked," Alicia said, stepping back and narrowing her eyes. "But watched. Maybe even followed."
Lily's hand flew to her chest. "We-we didn't feel anything…"
"No. But she could've slipped through," Luna said softly. "If Minerva can project warnings into dreams, the Devil of Time can project herself."
"She's used people before," Seamus muttered. "As anchors. Lures. Vessels."
Hugo looked terrified. "Are we… are we vessels?"
Luna shook her head gently. "No, dear. Not yet. But you've been seen. That's enough."
Suddenly, one of the floating runes near Lily shimmered black for a second before blinking out.
Alicia paled.
Fred stepped forward instantly, wand at the ready. "What the hell was that?"
"It was a shadow residue," Alicia said grimly. "Something tried to listen through her."
"But it couldn't hear her through her, could it?" Angelina asked, her brow furrowed with concern. To her relief, Alica shook her head.
Lily stepped back, horrified. "I didn't even notice—"
"Which means she's getting stronger," Seamus growled. "She's pushing her way in without even needing full possession. The bleed's spreading."
Harry swore under his breath.
"We have to move fast," Hermione said. "If she's watching students now, we don't know who else she could have her eye on."
"I know who," Seamus said darkly, eyes flicking to Nova. "She's coming for the girl who still resists her call."
Luna nodded solemnly. "Minerva's light is still protecting Nova… but it won't hold forever."
Nova's hands clenched into fists. "Then teach me. Whatever you know. I want to fight."
Everyone turned to her—this nine-year-old girl, standing small but unshaking in the middle of the chaos.
Seamus looked her in the eyes.
"You'll need more than spells," he said softly. "You'll need the truth. All of it."
Nova swallowed. "Then start talking," she said, which made them think she was Ginny 2.0
The glowing runes faded slowly, the warmth from Luna's spellwork giving way to an uneasy silence. The children stayed close together, eyes wide, while the adults exchanged glances filled with both dread and understanding.
Seamus exhaled sharply, then reached into his coat and pulled out a small enchanted flask. With a flick of his wand, fourteen steaming mugs of Butterbeer appeared, gently levitating toward each person in the room.
"Drink," he said softly. "You'll feel better."
They hesitated, then sipped. The warm caramel fizz wrapped around their nerves like a blanket, but it couldn't untangle the questions now swirling inside each of them.
"I know you want answers," Seamus said, lowering himself into a chair, staring into his own mug. "And you deserve them. But not yet."
Lily looked up. "Why not? You just said that's what we need to defeat her."
Seamus smiled faintly, but there was something sad in it. "Because the truth isn't something I can give you. It's something you'll find when the time comes. And that time…"
He glanced at Nova, who held her mug but hadn't touched it.
"…is coming. Faster than any of us thought."
He raised his Butterbeer slightly in a silent toast.
"When is it coming?" Albus asked
"Also, we can't sit still to wait for the truth. What do we do until then, sit idly?" James asked
"When it does—" his eyes scanned the room, "—you'll know. You'll know everything. And no, we won't sit idly, we will stop her as long as we can."
A heavy quiet fell, thick with unspoken promises.
Nova finally took a sip.
"If I see you three roaming around again, I swear you won't have to wait for the Devil of Time to kill you," Ginny muttered under her breath only so that Hermione, Fred, Bill, Ron, and George could hear.
All of them choked on their butterbeer and stared at her in shock, as she hadn't said anything like that since she got married.
"What, can't I say that?" Ginny asked,
"I think our sister is becoming her old self again," George said, still choking.
"If she goes back then not only the Devil of Time but all of us are in danger," Bill said with a small chuckle.
"Blimley, leave you three, I will be the first one to get hexed by her," Ron said acting shocked and chuckled.
"Yeah, I really don't want to receive a Bat-Boogye-Hex again," Fred said, also still choking and laughing.
They all shared a laugh while James and Rose stared out of the window, the storm that had gathered above the castle all evening suddenly cleared, just for a moment—revealing a sliver of moonlight breaking through the clouds.