"But it was a Patronus!" Terry said. "Couldn't you see who was casting it? Didn't you see anyone?" 

"No, we didn't see anyone!" I said. 

We were explaining to Terry, George, and Lee what had just gone down, back in the tent soaking wet, and our emotions were incredibly heightened. Fred's eyes were no longer leaking, but they were still too bright, and I was feeling a strange emptiness inside me ever since the Horcrux had been destroyed. The boys had just been woken up, and were confused, messy, and wide-eyed. 

"And it led you to the sword! I can't believe this! Then what happened?"

Fred explained how he had watched me jump into the pool, being confused as hell; how he had realised that something was wrong, dived in and saved me, then returned for the sword. He got as far as the opening of the locket, then hesitated, and I cut in.

"- And Red stabbed it with the sword."

"And... and the fucker went? Just like that?" Terry whispered.

"Well, it - it, uh, screamed, and shit." I said with half a glance at Fred. "Here."

I threw the locket into Terry's lap; gingerly he picked it up and examined its punctured windows. 

"Is it time to destroy Hufflepuff's cup as well, then?" George said excitedly. 

Fred, Lee, and I turned to him as Terry poked at the left window of the locket. George put his hands on his hips and leaned back against the canvas of the tent, looking from person to person. 

"What? If Red got to destroy one, I want to as well." He said, shrugging. 

"Um. Okay." I said. "Do I not get to destroy any?" 

"You got to destroy the diary, remember?" Terry reminded me. 

"Oh, yeah. Well, that's not the same." I said huffily. "I didn't know it was a Horcrux at the time. I'd much prefer to know it was one so I could get the satisfaction of destroying it." 

"Yeah, but doesn't it feel better to know you destroyed the thing that possessed you and made you do all that weird shit?" Fred said darkly. 

I sniggered. "Okay, sure, I guess. Destroying Tom Riddle as a twelve year old girl was satisfying... but now..." I paused. "It would be personal." 

An uncomfortable silence fell upon us. Lee looked awkwardly between us. 

"What Horcrux would you want to destroy, Terry?" 

We all looked at Lee, who shrugged. "I mean, the rest of you are all destroying at least one. Is it not an Insurgent thing?" 

"True." I said. "Yeah, Hopper, you want the diadem or the snake?" 

"The diadem." Terry said immediately. "Definitely the diadem." 

"I take it you've been thinking of this." Fred said. 

"Yeah, I have. Riddle used his predatory captor-captive relationship with my best friend to torture me." Terry said, his voice almost a growl. "He made her wear that diadem on their wedding day. I definitely want to destroy it." 

We made eye contact. All of the times Riddle had shoved our relationship in Terry's face, all of the times Riddle had mentally tortured Terry, went through my head but from Terry's perspective; watching me on Riddle's lap at the staff table from the Ravenclaw table, watching me walk up the aisle towards Riddle and take his hand in marriage, watching us say our vows, watching us walking hand-in-hand around the lake, watching Riddle kiss me, touch me, fuck me... and as the vision faded of being in a full Body-Bind curse, watching mine and Riddle's faces over the top of the armchair in his quarters, Riddle clearly thrusting up into me from underneath and my face slacked in pleasure... Terry blinked away the tears gathering in his eyes and turned to glare at the canvas wall of the tent. 

"I'm so sorry, Terry." I said quietly. 

Terry wiped his eyes violently with his sleeve. "It's not your fault. C'mon, let's destroy this cup once and for all." 

And so we found ourselves behind George, who was wielding the sword high above his head, with the cup placed in front of him on the coffee table. We were all nervous, me and Fred especially due to what we'd seen when Fred had destroyed the locket. I was afraid that this one was going to fight back too... 

And what would you know, I was right. As usual. As George shifted on his feet, raising the sword higher, I heard a soft whisper. 

"Daisy... my love... protect me." 

"W-what?" I looked around in fear. "Who said that?" 

Fred, Terry, and Lee all looked at me with their heads tilted. George faltered, glancing back at us. 

"No one said anything, Softpaw." 

"Okay, then turn back around." I gestured for him to raise the sword again, and he nodded, taking a deep breath. 

"Save me, Daisy... you don't want me to die, do you? You don't want me to hurt..." 

"Holy fucking shit. Okay, Bushy, stab it!" 

"My love... I am your husband... please don't hurt me..." 

"Uhhh..." I felt my brain melting, and completely against my will, without even being fully aware of what I was doing, I moved forward. I drifted in front of the cup, spreading my arms wide, lifting my face up in a desperate plea to George. "Georgie, please don't! Please don't hurt it. Please!" 

George stared at me, gobsmacked. Fred swore. Terry and Lee exchanged a concerned glance. 

"Ignore her. Just stab the damn thing." Fred told his twin, glancing at me with an unreadable expression. 

"PLEASE, Georgie!" I pleaded, tears filling my eyes. "He's my husband, I love him!" 

"Shut up, Softpaw!" Terry said suddenly, his eyes widening. George glanced back at him then at me, his face paling. 

"Get out of the way, Daze." The redhead said quietly, raising the sword again. 

I shook my head desperately, thrusting my arms out wider. "Please, please, Georgie, not my husband, oh, please!" 

"Princess, stop it, just please stop it -" 

"No!" 

I lunged as George swung; the metal blade of the sword flashed in the light of the lanterns, and I heard a yell; he pulled back at the last second to avoid me, panting. 

"Fuck sake, Softpaw, STOP!" Terry shouted in terror, his hands in his hair. 

Fred strode forward; he grabbed my arms, yanking them back, and I writhed, screaming. George was watching me, his eyes widened and full of fear; Terry and Lee were clutching at each other, faces pale. If I wasn't so scared for the precious cup, I would be laughing at the sight of the two of them. 

"Let - me - go!" I yelled, kicking my feet into the air as Fred hoisted me up against his chest. 

"Bushy, stab!" My boyfriend yelled. I writhed and struggled against him, twisting and turning and practically foaming at the mouth as the desire to protect the cup increased, the whispering in my ear getting stronger, the desperation taking over - 

George raised the sword again and plunged; at the exact same moment, I broke free of Fred and fell forward, arms outstretched as if I were diving; I felt a thud then a huge shock of pain go through me, and I collapsed on the floor of the tent as four yells reached my ears. My vision was wavering; I couldn't see properly; large shapes appeared in front of me and hands spread over me, fumbling, shaking, tearing my clothes off. 

"Fuck - fuck -" 

"George, she's bleeding, she's bleeding, please -" 

"Someone get it out of my bag, go on, quick -" 

"Shit, it's really bad -" 

"Fred - Daisy - fuck, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry -" I heard the first voice repeat itself, and winced as something poured over my side. Then the burning started; I squealed in pain, shaking; still, whispers slithered through my mind, telling me to protect the cup, telling me to defend it with my life...

"George, don't WORRY about it, just stab the fucking thing -" 

There was a sudden flash, a shriek, and a clang; several pieces of metal clattered onto the floor beside me, and I rolled over onto my back, whimpering in pain. The whispers stopped; my head unfogged, and it was like I could think clearly again. 

I had been stabbed by the sword of Gryffindor, and by being stabbed by this sword, I had severely fucked myself. If it were any other sword it would be fine; witches and wizards had remedies for simple stab wounds. But this was no ordinary sword, obvious by the fact that this was one of the only things in the world that could destroy a Horcrux. It had Basilisk venom inside it; one of the few things that could destroy something beyond repair... 

"Freddie, I'm gonna die..." I rasped, coughing; I blinked some of the tears out of my eyes to see George and Lee hovering above me, their eyes fearful and fixed on the liquid that was trickling out of my mouth. 

"No, you're not." Fred said firmly, and I raised my head slightly to see him and Terry frantically mopping up the blood spilling out of my side. 

"No... Freddie... I'm gonna..." I let my head fall back onto the floor with a clunk, and I heard Fred swear quietly. I felt a bandage tighten around my side, but the pain increased as black spots danced in the corners of my eyes. 

"Guys, she's losing too much blood!" Terry's voice sounded like it was underwater. 

I couldn't move. I felt the pain in my side throbbing as if my own heart was pulsing out of my skin... my eyes fluttered shut as I let out a soft sigh, and everything faded out around me. 

~~~ 

"...Agreed." A smooth, cheeky voice was saying. I groaned quietly, trying to force my eyes to open, but it was like they were cemented shut. "So, people, let's try to calm down a bit. Things are bad enough without inventing stuff as well. For instance, this new idea that your boy Riddle can kill people with a single glance from his eyes." 

The mention of Riddle's name piqued my interest; I tried harder to force my eyes open. 

"That's a Basilisk, listeners. One simple test: check whether the thing that's glaring at you has got legs. If it has, it's safe to look into its eyes, although if it really is Tom Riddle, that's still likely to be the last thing you ever do." 

I let out a soft laugh; the person's voice stopped talking for a moment. 

"George, take over." He hissed. I heard footsteps, then whatever I was lying on dipped to the side slightly. "Baby... baby, wake up." 

My eyes opened, albeit weakly and groggily. My vision wavered, but I could make out Fred above me, sitting beside me on the lower bunk that I was on, staring down at me as he smoothed back my hair tenderly. 

"There are those beautiful eyes..." He said softly. "Hey, gorgeous."

"Hey, handsome." I attempted to say back, my voice cracking. I coughed a little, trying to sit up, but Fred put a firm but gentle hand on my shoulder, pressing me back down. 

"Oh, no you don't." Fred said in amusement. 

"Yo, is she fucking awake?" 

I tried to turn my face to the side; George and Lee were sitting in front of the Wizarding wireless that Lee had been using for Potterwatch, and Terry was tearing towards us from the entrance to the tent, a joyous expression blossoming onto his face. 

"Get some water while you're at it." Fred told Terry, who ignored him, instead producing his wand and, when he reached me, prodding it into my mouth. 

"Aguamenti!" Terry said, and despite my sudden spluttering in reaction to him literally jamming his wand down my throat, fresh cold water splashed into my mouth. I swallowed gratefully, before Fred pulled him off me, glaring at him. 

"Seriously, Hopper? Just because you couldn't be bothered -" 

"I'm so glad you're actually alive, bestie!" Terry leaned down and hugged me, and I shifted in discomfort as he brushed against my side, which I was now realising was still throbbing quite bad. "Shit - sorry -" 

"C'mon, man, there's no need to literally choke her and then touch -" 

"I'm SORRY, fuck! Here, Softpaw, I'll just give you a lil' kiss on the forehead, how's that sound?" 

Terry plopped a huge smooch onto my forehead, and I grinned up at him. 

"How bad is it?" I said weakly as Fred glared at the also-grinning Terry. 

"Um - well." Terry hesitated, glancing at Fred as his grin dropped. "As you probably know, Gryffindor's sword -" 

"Contains Basilisk venom, yeah, yeah, I know what it does." I said. 

"Well." Terry said. "It does cause irreversible damage. The Phoenix tears saved you in the Chamber of Secrets... but unfortunately we don't have a Phoenix. I managed to stop the bleeding, and reduce the size of the wound using Muggle stitches, and it looks like it's healed slightly over the past couple of days..." 

"Days?!" 

"...Yeah. But anyway, it's made some progress, but we really need to find a remedy. Otherwise you could be stuck with a really bad scar, and it can get infected. Or..." 

"Or the healing could be reversed if it gets infected." Fred finished. "And you could die." 

I stared up at them both. 

"Well fuck."