Later that afternoon, Jaqui and Mattheo strolled along the snowy grounds, their hands entwined, footprints trailing behind them like a map. The cold didn't seem to bother either of them; if anything, it sharpened the edge of their laughter and the gleam in Theo’s dark eyes.

  Jaqui was smiling — a real smile, not the guarded smirk she wore around everyone else these days. Theo whispered something in her ear, and she laughed, shoving him playfully. If Harry had seen it, he might've hexed Theo right there and then.

  Up by the castle steps, hidden behind a frosted pillar, Harry did see it.

  He watched, jaw clenched so tightly it ached, as his sister laughed with the son of the man who had destroyed their family. It was wrong. It was twisted. And yet Jaqui looked… happy. Happier than he'd seen her in months.

  "Let it go, Harry," Hermione said quietly, stepping up beside him. She was bundled in a thick scarf, her hair frizzing wildly in the cold. "She's not you. She has to find her own way."

  Harry shook his head. "Not with him."

  Before Hermione could say anything more, Ron came jogging up, slipping slightly on the ice. "Oi! Come inside, will you? They're posting the Hogsmeade permission slips for Christmas weekend!"

  Harry hesitated, still watching Jaqui and Mattheo. But finally, with a deep sigh, he turned away.

  Inside the castle, the warmth hit them like a soft wall. Students crowded around the notice boards, chattering excitedly about Hogsmeade trips, sweets from Honeydukes, and pranks planned for the holidays.

  As Harry, Ron, and Hermione scribbled their names on the permission forms, Neville sidled up, looking troubled.

  "Er… Jaqui's not coming back inside yet," he said. "Saw her heading toward the Forbidden Forest with Mattheo."

  Harry dropped his quill.

  "WHAT?"

  Several first-years jumped and scattered at the sheer volume of his voice.

  "Calm down!" Neville hissed. "They weren't running off to elope or anything! They just… looked serious. Like they were talking about something important."

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  Harry shoved the parchment at McGonagall's desk without a second glance and stormed off toward the entrance hall. Hermione and Ron exchanged a weary glance and hurried after him.

  Outside again, Harry scanned the snowy fields. Jaqui and Mattheo were just two small figures now, walking steadily toward the shadowed edge of the Forest.

  "Harry, wait!" Hermione grabbed his arm. "If you follow them, you’ll just make it worse!"

  "Yeah, mate," Ron added, panting. "Last thing you need is to get detention and get eaten by a bloody Acromantula."

  But Harry wasn’t listening. He pulled out his wand, heart hammering, and stalked toward the Forest.

  Meanwhile, deeper among the trees, Jaqui shivered — not from the cold, but from the weight of what Theo was telling her.

  "My father’s not dead," Theo said, voice low. "Not completely. His magic's alive, twisted into the earth itself. That's why Dumbledore’s afraid of this place. He can feel it too."

  Jaqui's breath caught. She looked around. The trees seemed to lean closer, their branches twitching like fingers.

  "Why are you telling me this?" she whispered.

  "Because you need to know what’s coming." Theo turned to her fully, his expression deadly serious. "The world’s about to split apart, Jax. You have to decide where you stand. Who you stand with."

  Jaqui swallowed hard. Her heart was racing. "I stand with myself," she said finally. "I won't be used. Not by Dumbledore. Not by Voldemort. Not by anyone."

  Theo smiled, but it wasn’t mocking — it was proud. "That’s my girl."

  And then, just as Jaqui was about to ask what he meant, there was a sharp crack of a branch behind them.

  Harry.

  Jaqui spun, wand raised before she even thought about it. Harry was standing there, furious, his own wand at the ready.

  "Jaqui, get away from him," Harry barked.

  "No." Her voice was steady.

  Theo slid a hand casually to his wand, but didn't draw it — not yet.

  Harry looked between them, hurt flashing across his face before he masked it with anger. "You're choosing him over your own brother?"

  "You’re not acting like my brother right now," Jaqui said, her voice like ice. "You haven’t for months."

  Harry flinched like she’d slapped him.

  Behind him, Ron and Hermione arrived, breathless and red-faced. "Harry, come on," Hermione said urgently. "This isn’t the time."

  Theo’s eyes glinted. "Run along, Potter," he said softly. "Before you get in over your head."

  Harry pointed his wand at him. "Say that again."

  Jaqui stepped between them.

  "No," she said. "We’re done fighting."

  She turned her back on Harry — on Harry! — and walked back toward the castle, Theo falling into step beside her.

  Harry watched them go, his heart breaking in a way he couldn’t explain.

  And somewhere, deep beneath the earth, something stirred — something ancient, something dark — sensing the first true crack between the twins who were never meant to stand apart.

  The cold hadn't left Jaqui — it had burrowed into her, deep under her ribs, setting something sharp and electric buzzing through her veins. She couldn't stop replaying the look on Harry's face: the anger, the betrayal.

  And worse, the fear.

  He was afraid of her now.

  For days afterward, Hogwarts seemed colder, darker. Students whispered when Jaqui passed by. Even the portraits leaned away from her, muttering behind painted hands. Strange things happened when she got upset: torches flickered violently, windows rattled without wind, and once, an entire hallway trembled underfoot.

  Theo noticed first. Of course he did.

  "You’re changing, Jax," he said one night in the dungeons, when the storm outside was howling like a wounded thing. "You're waking up."

  Jaqui didn’t feel awake.She felt dangerous.

  And when Harry finally confronted her again — alone, under the bleachers of the empty Quidditch pitch — Jaqui’s magic finally broke free.

  And this time, someone was going to get hurt.