"HARRY!" Neville roared in delight. "You're here!"
Any lingering unease Harry might have felt at letting Sirius out of his sight vanished the instant Neville's face appeared over the ledge, climbing the rope ladder to the treehouse where Luna had brought them, before returning to her post. With so many of his friends gathered there, how could the Muggle-Born Sanctuary possibly be anything but safe? Their Healers would have Sirius fit as a fiddle in no time.
"Oof!" Harry grunted as Neville wrapped his arms around him. "Good to see you, Neville."
There was no trace left of the baby fat that had once rounded Neville's face and frame. He was clean-shaven, and from the firmness of his embrace, it was clear he'd built up a fair bit of muscle since Harry had last seen him.
"Good to see you too!" Hermione gasped as Neville hugged her in turn. "But what are you doing here!?"
Neville stepped back, beaming at them, and Harry and Hermione couldn't help but notice his easy acceptance of Oleandra, whom he greeted with a broad smile. Where was the hostility, they wondered?
"Neville, I need to know what happened at Hogwarts while I was in St Mungo's," said Oleandra gravely. "Any detail, however small, could really help."
"Hang on a moment!" Harry burst out, his voice sharp with anger. "This— what is all this? How can you stand there beside her and say nothing, after everything she's done?" He glared at them. "Before anything else, Oleandra needs to explain everything— starting with the night Dumbledore died!"
Oleandra glanced at Neville briefly.
"Do you really want him to hear this?" she said to Harry. "I was under the impression you wanted Voldemort's secret known by as few people as possible. Oh, and yes— you can say his name here; he can't reach this place, especially now. Still, I wouldn't make a habit of it, if I were you. One slip outside and… well, surely you've guessed by now."
"It's okay," Neville said helpfully. "I can wait outside."
Harry glanced at Hermione, but she shook her head. It was his decision to make, and his alone.
"Fine, you can stay," Harry sighed. "If Oleandra's lying, you'll tell me right away, yeah?"
Neville beamed at him again, earning him an eye‑roll from Oleandra. Even so, they all settled themselves on the plump divans in the sitting room, and Oleandra began telling her tale…
"Everything began to unravel near the end of our fifth year at Hogwarts," Oleandra began. "After the scramble for the Prophecy Orb in the Department of Mysteries was over…"
Oleandra and her sisters had fallen straight into Voldemort's trap, and, along with their mother, they had been whisked away to Malfoy Manor— where, believing himself to be acting in line with the Dark Lady prophecy, Voldemort turned Daphne into a Horcrux.
"I managed to save my mother and my little sister, but I couldn't find Daphne, so we had no choice but to flee without her," Oleandra said quietly. "It wasn't until September that I learnt what a Horcrux was— and that Daphne had become one."
"But how?" Hermione said, frowning. "It took Dumbledore ages to figure it out, and he was the greatest Wizard in the world."
Neville blinked in confusion. What even was a Horcrux?
"Mai explained everything to me," Oleandra explained.
It took a moment for Harry, Hermione and Neville to piece everything together. Mai, as in Maëlle, the thirteen-year-old girl who had founded the Muggle-Born Sanctuary!?
"She's far stronger and more knowledgeable than she looks," Oleandra said reluctantly. "She was trained by the most powerful Dark Witch in the world, after all."
Harry and Neville stared at her in disbelief, but much to Oleandra's surprise…
"What are you making those faces for?" Hermione said in a huff. "You don't think girls are capable of becoming powerful Witches and turning to Dark magic on their own?"
Moving things right along…
"Unfortunately, one of Theo's alchemical experiments went wrong later that year, and I couldn't do anything about Daphne's condition until it was too late," Oleandra said. "Do you remember when I vanished at Christmas, Harry? I only found my way back to Hogwarts on the night Daphne and Malfoy set their plans in motion."
"I remember," Harry said darkly. "Instead of helping Dumbledore, you tried to grab his wand— the Elder Wand. And when we confronted you in the tower, you sided with Snape and ran."
Oleandra raised her hands in defeat.
"I'll be perfectly honest with you," she said. "Independently of Daphne's plan to assassinate Dumbledore for Voldemort, I'd always meant to murder Dumbledore to win the Elder Wand's allegiance… ever since I saw him pull it out in Alchemy class."
In a flash, Harry drew Sirius's wand and levelled it at Oleandra's heart, but she didn't look the slightest bit impressed by his posturing. Neville looked shocked, but unlike Harry, he did not automatically reach for his own wand.
"Put that thing away before you hurt yourself," said Oleandra evenly. "Listen carefully, because I'll only say this once. If there's one thing you choose to believe today, let it be this: my dearest wish is to unite all three of the Deathly Hallows, and I'll do whatever it takes to make it happen."
Oleandra took a deep breath.
"Daphne holds the Elder Wand and its allegiance, as well as the Resurrection Stone— both stolen from me," she went on. "She's with Voldemort, which makes us mortal enemies, so logically, we should join forces… unless, of course, you'd prefer to face Voldemort on your own."
Hermione stared at her in shock.
"Then… doesn't that mean," she said softly, trying to catch Harry's gaze out of the corner of her eyes, "that you've resolved to kill your own sister?"
A sudden, savage urge gripped Harry... to claim the Elder Wand for himself. He and Hermione had just lost their wands, and without the benefit of the Reverse Spell Effect, he needed a stronger wand… he had to have the Deathstick. So, he chose not to tell Oleandra the truth about what it took to win the Elder Wand's allegiance.
Let the two sisters fight to the death; it was no more than they deserved.
"One last thing," Harry said coldly. "Ron. Ginny. Why did you…"
In response, Oleandra rummaged in her pouch and withdrew the Book of the Stars… and from between its pages, the Marauder's Map, which she had hidden as a bookmark. She tossed it at him.
"See for yourself," she said drily.