Disclaimer: If you haven’t read A Parting Dream, the prequel to this story, don’t worry. If you want more background information about the events leading up to this piece, then please, read it. In any case, Harry, Hermione, Ron, and the rest of the Hogwarts gang belongs to the illustrious JK Rowling, not me. Anything you don’t recognize as hers, however, belongs to me and if you want to use it (though I’m not sure why you would), just ask me!

One last thing, I’ve got to give a big round of applause to my editor, George Weasley’s Girlfriend a.k.a. JanaBelle for helping me out with this fic. I couldn’t have done it without you!

Two days had passed since Harry had visited the infirmary, and Hermione was now pouring over a spell book she had checked out from the library. Unlike Cho and Lyria, they did not know exactly what the Widow’s Lament spell entailed. Hermione grinned in triumph as she pointed to an entry in the spell book, and Harry and Ron perked up to listen as she read.

Back in the dark ages, the lifespans of wizards and witches were not nearly what they were today and the circumstances under which they lived were much more dangerous, causing widows and widowers to become the majority of the population. Due to the fact that so many hearts were being broken every day due to unfortunate deaths caused by things we can prevent today, it was determined by the Council of Magic in Romania that research would be done to develop a spell that would allow the grieving widows and widowers once last chance to speak to their lost loved ones. It took over a century for the spell to be perfected, and even then results were unsure due to the emotional basis of the spell. Occasionally, the person who preformed the spell would join the one they loved in death. Hermione gulped slightly at this part, but Ron and Harry didn’t move an inch, hanging on her every word. After a slight pause, she picked up again. However, this did not happen very often, and only did when the returning spirit was extremely angry or vengeful in one way or another.

It was given the name, "Widow’s Lament" by the person who developed it in 1660, Jessica Anne Parker, a newly widowed woman herself. Her husband, a Muggle, was killed in a mass execution for witches and wizards in America. She then fled for her life to Romania, where she developed the spell, performed it…and then disappeared mysteriously after handing it over to the Council of Magic. It was rumored that she roamed the countryside, seeking vengeance against those who would kill people accused of witchcraft by burning them before they could burn the accused. Hermione shuddered at the thought. However, these rumors were never corroborated and are generally thought of as false.

Hermione skimmed over the spell itself, which Harry had explained. However, at the end, there was a rather interesting note, which she did read aloud.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat in silence for a bit, trying to absorb all the information in the spell book.

"That’s some spell," Ron commented, breaking the silence. "I’m surprised it’s not more commonly used."

"Well, the book said it was rather dangerous…but you’re right, I don’t know why it’s been hidden away like this and taught as a Dark Art," Hermione mused. "But I do wonder why it can only be preformed once…that’s an interesting stipulation. I don’t think I’ve seen anything quite like it before."

"Which means there isn’t anything quite like it." Ron quipped. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"There’s nothing wrong with reading a lot, Ron. It wouldn’t hurt you to try sometime," she snapped.

"What, so I can turn into a Know-It-All brain like you? No thanks."

Harry groaned as he sensed the fight starting. "Ron, Hermione, please– "

"At least I know the difference between pickled toad livers and armadillo bile! I wouldn’t think they’d be that hard to mix up, but of course, a brainless prat like you would have to prove me wrong."

Ron’s ears turned red, remembering the scene in potions he had made. "Brainless prat, huh? You shouldn’t be speaking, after all, only a dim-witted, mindless, little twit would fall for someone like Lockhart!"

"Ron– "

Smoke was practically coming out of Hermione’s ears at this. "Dim-witted? Mindless? Are you sure you weren’t speaking to an enchanted mirror when you said that, because no normal one would give you that amount of latitude."

"Well, if you didn’t have your head stuck so far up your – "

"Will you two be quiet?!" Harry fairly shouted, making everyone else in the common room look in their direction. Ron and Hermione looked quite sheepish and muttered, "Sorry," when the realized how much attention their fight had attracted. Harry shook his head when the rest of the Gryffindors started to look away from their trio.

"You two just don’t know when to quit, do you?" Harry commented. "I swear, some of times you remind me of a married couple."

This made both Ron and Hermione look away from each other and turn quite a nice shade of red. Harry chuckled slightly at their discomfort. The thought of them being married some day seemed utterly preposterous to him…and yet it had a strange sort of endearing quality…nah. It would never happen.

"In any case," Harry began again, breaking the awkward silence, "I’m curious about this Death’s Lament thing. Any chance we might be able to get a look at it? Either that or the consequences of a second Widow’s Lament?"

"I’ll bet the library has a book on it somewhere," Hermione said. Ron looked like he was about to make another wisecrack, but an icy glare from Hermione made him hold his tongue. Instead he merely sighed, "‘When in doubt, go to the library.’ I take it that’s were we’ll be headed?"

Hermione nodded. "You guys don’t need to come, but it would make things go a lot faster…"

Knowing they’d get a lecture if they didn’t, the boys quickly rose from their seats and accompanied a triumphant Hermione to the library.

* * *

Lyria walked back into the Ravenclaw common room, receiving many curious glances as she walked by to get to the girls’ dorms. By now she was sure many rumors had circulated about her and Cho’s absence from class the past few days…well, hers at least since she had been out until today. Cho had been back in class the day before at least.

Still, she had so much make-up work to do, and she figured that she may as well get started on it while she had the chance. She’d actually be starting classes again tomorrow, but she had all her previous assignments…along with an especially long essay on the effects of veritaserum. She sighed lightly, it just figured that Snape would do such a thing to them. That, plus the fact she had to learn how to transfigure a hair pin into a guitar pick (which Lyria privately thought was a rather odd assignment, but she didn’t say anything), do a long translation in Ancient Runes, study up on several charms, etc. All thanks to those darn O.W.L.s.

She was so busy running over her list of things to do, that she hardly noticed where she was going and bumped into Cho accidentally, causing her to drop her book.

"Oh, sorry about that Cho! Here, let me get that for you–"

"No, that’s alright." Cho reached down and swept the book away, but not before Lyria got a glimpse of part of the title, Life, Death, and Resurrection. Lyria frowned to herself.

"Where’d you get that book? I don’t remember seeing that in the library. Seems rather morbid," she commented, a bit suspicious.

Cho shifted the book in her arms uncomfortably. "Oh, a friend of mine gave it to me…I’m doing some research for Advanced Defense Against the Dark Arts." Lyria was about to ask another question, but Cho quickly changed the topic with, "How easily did they let you off? I got a week’s detention with Hagrid." Cho rolled her eyes. "I’m not looking forward to taking care of the four-eyed gyliddyhoppers. Those things creep me out," she shuddered dramatically.

"Same here, except I’m helping Professor Sprout with the extra Devil’s Snare. I think I would’ve gotten more, but Madam Pomfrey interceded on my behalf. Professor McGonagall wasn’t buying the story that we were just out there practicing dueling charms and things got out of hand…but she let me off."

Cho sighed in relief. "Good, I don’t feel like explaining anything to anyone at the moment. Did you tell…"

Lyria nodded. "Yes, I told him, so I’m sure the entire trio knows by now."

Cho looked at her strangely. "Why would you assume that?"

"You mean you’ve never noticed that those three are always together, that they have no secrets?" Lyria asked, rather surprised.

"I guess I never really thought about it before. Oh well, our secret’s safe enough with them, I suppose." She shifted subjects again and put a concerned hand on Lyria’s shoulder. "Are sure you’re alright? You still look rather worn."

Lyria shrugged Cho’s hand off. "I’m fine, trust me, the last thing I need at the moment is to be stuck in a hospital bed with Madam Pomfrey hovering over me every five seconds. I’m just trying to figure out how I’m going to get all my work done."

Cho smiled sympathetically. "Oh, you’ll manage. You always have. Anyways, I’ve got to go. I’ll see you at dinner!"

Cho quickly made her escape and Lyria looked after her for a moment, her thoughts turning to the book cover once again. A bell rang dully in the back of her mind, but she didn’t know exactly what it meant, so she ignored it and trooped up to her room, flopped onto her bed, and began her five-foot essay on veritaserum.

* * *

"Since when do you have access to the Restricted Section?" Ron asked as Hermione showed Madam Pince a teacher’s note, allowing her access to a few book she wouldn’t normally be able to get.

"Since I started to do the extra credit project for Advanced Defense Against the Dark Arts. I needed to cite some examples, and the ones in the non-Restricted section just weren’t good enough."

"Why not?" Ron asked curiously, as Madam Pince allowed Hermione to retrieve the book herself…not something she would normally do, but, well, this was Hermione…

Hermione scanned the bookshelves, one finger running along the air in front of the books. "Hmmm? Oh, they’re just so mundane…besides this was an opportunity to get to a book I haven’t read cover-to-cover before, and I couldn’t pass it up."

Harry and Ron exchanged a knowing look. It was just like Hermione to say something like that…

"That’s funny, it doesn’t seem to be here," she mused.

…that, on the other hand, was not. Both Harry and Ron looked at her, mildly startled.

"What’s not there?"

"Oh, this book. I know it has Death’s Lament in it…something called, Life, Death, and Resurrection: A Guide to Ancient Dark Arts. I wonder who would have taken it out?"

Harry and Ron shrugged, and the trio continues to search the library fruitlessly for a while. First Ron gave up, and sat down at one of the tables, flipping through a work of fiction, by a Muggle author named Jana Weasley incidentally. Harry quit next and went to sit across from Ron, who started laughing as he found a particularly funny passage. He quickly showed it to Harry who started laughing too. Soon they were rolling on the floor, laughing their heads off, getting disapproving stares from both Madam Pince and Hermione. Hermione just sighed, stopped looking through books, and dragged the two boys out of the library, where they finally calmed down.

"What was so funny anyway?" Hermione asked, annoyed.

Harry and Ron exchanged a grin and showed her the passage in the book, which Harry had not let go of. Hermione read it carefully, then got a puzzled expression on her face and looked at the two boys quizzically. "I don’t get it."

Harry and Ron went into hysterics again, leaving Hermione to just roll her eyes and mutter "boys" as she walked off to dinner by herself.

* * *

Lyria finished off her potions essay and dropped her quill into her inkwell, massaging her hand somewhat. Darn writer’s cramp…she thought. One thing down, only two million more to go…

She decided that she’d better start on her Transfiguration work next, since it was her worst subject and it was bound to take forever because Mandy Brocklehurst wasn’t around to help her…probably out trying to catch Ernie Macmillian’s eye. Mandy was a nice girl, but everyone once in a while the inner…oh, what was the word her American cousin had used? It fit so nicely too…ditz, that was it. Her inner ditz shown very brightly every now and then, usually giving everyone a fit of laughter. Once such time was when she accidentally mis-chanted a charm and ended up summoning a group of Cornish Pixies, and then allowed one of them to get hold of her wand…Lyria almost giggled aloud remembering the pure panic that had spread, and Professor Flitwick’s reaction…

Ah, well, Mandy wasn’t in the dorms at the moment, so she’d better get started. She cleared off her desk and carefully put a hairpin on it. She took a few steps back, closed her eyes and took a deep breath to center herself, and then raised her wand, concentrating intently. She murmured something, and the hairpin began to glow. For a moment, Lyria’s heart leapt with joy, thinking she had finally a transformation right for once…but all the sudden, the pin turned green, and two eyes and a mouth popped onto it, effectively giving it a face. It began to sing, to the tune of "I’m A Little Teapot":

Lyria groaned as the pin started its song over. This was going to drive her absolutely insane…

Suddenly the door to the dorm opened and Lisa Turpin, another fifth year Ravenclaw entered. When she heard the singing pin, she winced, pulled out her wand and then changed it back into a regular old hairpin again. Lyria sighed in relief.

"Thanks Lisa, I think you just saved my sanity," Lyria said gratefully. Lisa smiled at her and shrugged it off.

"No problem. I heard you got back today; feeling any better?"

"Much. Hey, do you know where Mandy is? I have no desire to hear that song all night…and I’m sure the rest of you don’t either."

Lisa rolled her brown eyes. "Probably trying to talk to Ernie at dinner, which is why I came up here. I figured you lost track of the time…again."

Lyria looked sheepish. She almost never remembered when it was time to go down for dinner, which resulted in a lot of missed meals and midnight expeditions to the kitchens. "Yeah, I suppose I did. Thanks for coming to get me." Lyria slipped her wand into her robes and followed Lisa out of the dorms.

"No problem. You know, you wouldn’t believe the things people are saying happened to you and Cho! Especially you."

This sparked Lyria’s interest. It was always interesting to hear what the rumor mill was pumping out. "What have they come up with now?"

"Well, I heard Padma talking to Terry Boot in Charms, and she was saying her sister told her that…well…" Lisa whispered something into Lyria’s ear, and Lyria looked at her in shock, feeling her face turn hot.

"You’ve got to be kidding me…someone actually had the audacity to say that?"

Lisa nodded. "I don’t believe a word of it though. I mean, you haven’t even talked to him before, right?"

Lyria hesitated, then said "No, I’ve talked to him before, but only once. I was asked to give him a message, that’s all."

"I suspected as much. Sometimes I think Parvati would make a better tabloid columnist than witch….after all, her talents seem to lie in that area."

Lyria smiled. "Oh, I agree completely. I can just see Parvati in that line of work…‘Coming up, vampire welfare queens who are compulsive bowlers.’"

Lisa laughed. "That’s a good one. I’ll have to use that in Divination…‘death by bowling balls thrown by vampire welfare queens’, sounds quite intriguing, no?"

"Oh, quite. Professor Trelawney will love it."

They had reached the Great Hall now, and as soon as they entered, scattered whispers broke out through the room, and there were many glances in Lyria’s direction. She rolled her eyes, knowing what they had to be whispering about, and figuring it would die down in a few days, and things would be back to normal. She scanned the room for Cho, and then frowned when she realized that she wasn’t in the room.

"Lisa, do you know where Cho is? She said she’d meet me here for dinner."

Lisa shrugged. "No clue. Last time I saw her she was looking through some book, seemed really intent on finding something."

They were halfway to the Ravenclaw table when Lyria happened to glance over at the Gryffindors. Harry, Hermione, and Ron were discussing something intently…or rather, Ron and Hermione were, Harry was just throwing a comment in here and there. He caught her eye, tugged on Hermione’s sleeve, and then waved for her to come over. Lyria excused herself and walked over the Gryffindor table, ignoring the excited whispering that followed this action.

"Was it Parvati or Lavender?" She asked, taking a seat next to Harry, and nodding to Ron and Hermione.

"Don’t know for sure, but Ron was betting on that Hufflepuff girl…what’s her name?" Harry said, then taking a bite of his food.

"Sally-Anne Perks. She’s the unofficial queen of gossip," Ron said.

Lyria shook her head. "Right, I totally forgot about her. I hear about Parvati and Lavender the most because Padma’s in my dorm."

"I still think it was Parvati. You said Padma was in you dorm, right?" Hermione asked.

"Yes…"

"So she could have seen you sneak out of the common room, right?"

Lyria groaned. "I thought I was more careful than that, but she could have heard I suppose…which would explain everything. Padma probably mentioned hearing something to Parvati and that’s where it all started."

"See, I told you it wasn’t her! You owe me a butterbeer," Harry crowed as Ron slumped back in his seat. Both Hermione and Lyria rolled their eyes and muttered, "boys", then looked at each other and smiled when they realized what they had done.

"I don’t think we were ever formally introduced. Hermione Granger," she shook Lyria’s hand.

"Ron Weasley," he did the same.

"Lyria Azrael, as I’m sure you all know by now. Now, what was it you called me over for, because I’m sure it didn’t have anything to do with the latest gossip."

Hermione nodded, and lowered her voice. "You’re right, it doesn’t. I was wondering if you knew where we might be able to find some information on Death’s Lament."

Lyria’s demeanor changed dramatically. She had almost been back to her regular self because working on her missed lesson drew her mind away from the incidents. A colder air grew around her, and she seemed to draw into herself some, all her cheerful thoughts fleeing from her. Harry seemed to notice this and he gave her a sympathetic look, which she caught, but looked down anyways.

"…I don’t. I never bothered to look it up, I didn’t want there to be any chance I might confuse the spells," she said quietly. "The library probably has some books that mention it…though they’re probably in the Restricted section."

Hermione nodded again. "I know, we looked today, but we couldn’t find it."

A little bell rang in the back of Lyria’s mind again. "What do you mean you couldn’t find it?" She asked, frantically.

"Someone already checked it out, why?" Hermione asked, a little confused by Lyria’s reaction.

Suddenly, the puzzle pieces began to fit into place. Lyria paled as she realized what had happened. "Oh hell…quick, do you remember what the book was called?"

"Life, Death, and Resurrection: A Guide to Ancient Dark Arts."

Lyria swore and shot out of her seat, literally running for the exit. The trio exchanged a surprised look, and quickly dashed after her. Harry caught up with her first, grabbing her arm and spinning her around.

"What’s going on? Why did you dash out like that?"

"Don’t you see? Who is the only one who would want to see Cedric again so badly they’d consider resorting to Dark Arts?"

Harry paled slightly. "Cho…" he whispered.

Lyria nodded frantically. "She was searching that book this afternoon. She must’ve mixed up the spells in her mind, and if we don’t stop her she’s going to perform the wrong one, and the consequences of that cannot be good."

Hermione and Ron dashed up to the two, and only the words, "Cho’s about to perform Death’s Lament," were needed to explain the severity of the situation. However, before they could run off again, a snide voice came from behind them.

"Well well well, if it isn’t Potter and his new girlfriend. Tell me, Mudblood, how much did he pay you?"

Lyria’s icy stare turned towards a slender blonde boy, who was flanked by two gorilla-like students. "Excuse me?" She said in a voice cold enough to freeze death in its tracks.

This didn’t seem to phase the boy, though. "You heard me, how much did he pay you to give him some in the halls the other night?"

Harry and Ron looked like they were about to pound the boy to a pulp, and only Hermione putting restraining hands on their shoulders stopped them. Lyria, on the other hand, had a totally different reaction. Her eyes widened in shock, then her shoulders sagged and she groaned, "Oh great, first we were making out, now I’m a prostitute? This is just lovely…"

The boy sneered at her and was about to make another remark, when Hermione unexpectedly pushed herself between the two groups and faced him.

"Funny how that rumor seemed to grow so fast, Malfoy. You wouldn’t happen to have anything to do with it, would you?"

Draco lifted his head loftily. "So what if I did?"

"Well, then for you own good, I suggest you forget that particular rumor exists…for your own good, of course," Hermione said lightly, while the boys and Lyria looked on at her with confused expressions on their faces.

Draco looked extremely skeptical, crossing his arms in a defiant stance. "And why would that benefit me?"

Hermione gave him a cold smile. "Because then I’ll stop holding back all those rumors about you and Pansy Parkington behind the Quidditch benches. I wouldn’t want to tarnish your spotless reputation without cause."

Draco paled. "You’re…you’re kidding right?"

Hermione took a step closer to him and merely said, "Guess" in a flat, deadly tone of voice.

Draco’s eyes widened for a moment, and then he seemed to recover his familiar, sneering attitude. "I’d watch your back, Mudblood. Draco Malfoy is not someone to toy with."

"We’ll see about that," Hermione stated evenly as Draco retreated. She then looked back at the trio around her. Ron looked like he had been handed a Christmas present early, Harry was grinning widely, and even Lyria was trying hold back a laugh. "You know, I always knew rooming with Parvati would have its advantages," she commented lightly.

"Did you see the expression on Malfoy’s face; that was classic!" Ron exclaimed. "You’re a genius, Herm!"

"Okay, even I’ll agree it was beautiful seeing…Malfoy, was it?…cut down like that, but remember what we were doing before he came along?" Lyria interrupted, feeling a trill of fear go through her as she remembered what they’d been doing before. Everyone sobered at this reminder and they dashed off into the halls again, hoping they weren’t too late.