Unofficial Portkey Archive

Chapter Thirty Five

... b ...

Tuesday, July 23.
Early morning, continued.

On hearing about Lettie's kidnapping, Draco immediately got out of bed, went over to the fireplace and threw a handful of Floo powder on the dying flames. They lit up abruptly, and he looked over to Ginevra, who was completely alert now and pulling on a shirt and pair of pants.

"Can you even get to the vampire mansion through here?" he asked, starting to dress as well.

"I don't know, I've never tried," Ginevra admitted, but looked determined to try.

You have to go up to Professor McGonagall's office. She'll have access through there, Luna supplied, grateful that she'd been able to do something, even if she hadn't been able to stop Lettie's kidnapping.

The moment Lettie had disappeared from the vampire mansion, Luna's Sight had miraculously returned. She'd been so intent on trying to See something about the search party later that day that the sudden vision startled her, and if it wasn't for the intensity of the vision, Luna might have missed it entirely. The vision wasn't to do with the search party itself, but rather the subject, and she barely held back from throwing up on seeing Lettie's fate. She reiterated it in quiet tones to Ginevra and Draco, and turned to Colin, sobbing in his arms.

Thanking Luna gently, Ginevra Flooed up to McGonagall's office, intent on getting to the vampire mansion sooner rather than later, even if it meant waking up all of the Hogwarts staff. Draco followed her to McGonagall's office so he could Floo to the Veela house.

... b ...

Miles was pacing the floor, Agnes and Xavier blocking the door so that he couldn't get out - or someone couldn't get in? Ginevra wondered, hearing the multitude of footsteps outside of the Torleni's room.

"Daughter, thank the gods you are all right. Lettie was taken from your room, we thought they had you too," Agnes said, her worry clear on her face.

"I'm fine, I'm just worried about Lettie. Do you know who took her?"

The commotion outside of the room became louder, and Miles growled low in his throat. "The residual magical signature indicates that it was Virginia and the one you call Voldemort," he ground out, his fists clenched by his sides.

Ginevra's fists clenched, and she told her friends the news, their anger becoming a hot wave inside of her. Over the pounding in her ears, Ginevra could hear the noise outside of the room grow even louder. She frowned slightly, her anger starting to lessen and give way to confusion. Ginevra heard Miles' guttural growl and looked between him and the barred door. Agnes looked to Xavier, a quick thought receiving a reluctant nod in return. Before Ginevra could open her mouth to say something, Xavier shot forward in a blur that even she had trouble seeing.

Fangs sank into flesh, and Xavier held his son firmly so he couldn't escape his embrace. Miles fought Xavier, his arms and legs slowing with each passing second until he went limp entirely, his body slumped in his father's arms. The noise at the door stopped abruptly.

"Why? What?" Ginevra stumbled on her words, surprised at what Xavier was doing. She drew a deep breath and turned to Agnes. "Could you explain what on earth that was about?"

Agnes raised her eyebrow slightly at Ginevra's tone, but answered nonetheless. "Miles' power as butler of the vampire mansion allows him to know when someone needs help, even if they don't know it themselves. Of course, if someone doesn't know that they need help, it can be difficult to determine what he has to do, so his power also allows him to influence people in a very subtle way in order to determine what help they need. It seems that his current need to find and hunt down Voldemort and Virginia is affecting every vampire in the mansion, but they will not go without his direct command, hence the barricading of the door. No butler has ever done something like this before, so we did not know it was possible," Agnes said, glancing to where her son was being laid out on the bed.

"How are you and Xavier not affected then? Or me?" Ginevra asked.

"We are his parents, and you already felt the need to hunt Virginia and Voldemort down on arriving, so your emotions were not affected," Agnes replied.

"Lettie had accepted his marriage proposal only hours before, and he was telling us the news when she was kidnapped. Something kept him from getting into your room to help her, and he now blames himself," Xavier said quietly, making his way back over to them now that Miles was sleeping. "I took as much of his blood as I dared. His power's lessened, and he'll wake up Thirsty, but it's the only solution I could think of, albeit a temporary one."

"Virginia's position on the Council has been revoked, but as a vampire, she was still allowed to come here. The wards we had weren't enough, and the Council are still undecided on their response. Everyone knew Lettie was your companion, Ginevra, and all are sorry about her kidnapping. However, there are some still loyal to Virginia, even without her presence here, and they believe that it was not her doing, despite the evidence that shows otherwise," Agnes said, her distaste evident. "Xavier and I are working on changing their minds, but it is a long and difficult process."

"I may be able to help with that," Ginevra murmured, thinking of Ollivander and the bags she had asked him to make. "If Virginia's position on the Council has been revoked, does that mean there is a seat available?"

Xavier smiled slightly and nodded. "I was hoping you would ask," he said, offering Ginevra his arm.

She took it without hesitation, and they disappeared, moving through the mansion without seeming to take a single step. Stopping suddenly, Ginevra felt her stomach lurch at the sensation and tried not to throw up. Agnes appeared behind Ginevra not even a full second later, shaking her head at her husband before moving to take her seat. Xavier held onto her arm firmly, keeping her upright, and waited until she composed herself before he let go and headed to his seat beside Agnes.

Blinking, Ginevra realised that she was standing before a long table. Seated before her was every Elder of the vampire Council, all of whom she'd met during her first tests and before her Blooding ceremony: Everett, Thayne, Annabelle, Maverick, Xavier and Agnes. Virginia's seat was empty, but Ginevra hoped it wouldn't be that way for long.

... b ...

Lettie blinked her way awake slowly, her head pounding. She remembered everything that had happened, and seeing that she wasn't alone in the room, Lettie growled at the rat-like man across from her. He squeaked in fear, then coughed and drew himself up, Pettigrew telling himself that he was safe since she was bound and caged.

"Lord Voldemort will be arriving presently. You've been given ... something by Lady Virginia to stop you from escaping. It's probably fogging your mind right about now, but don't try to resist it; it hurts and doesn't achieve anything in the end," Pettigrew informed her.

Lettie's vision swam before her, Pettigrew's form doubling, tripling, and the room (cage, tent? Where were they holding her?) spun wildly. A wave of nausea hit her and she threw up, the acidic taste burning her throat and making her eyes water.

Pettigrew swore softly, knowing that Voldemort would hurt him if the woman was presented to him covered in vomit, and he hurried to clean her with a quick spell. It didn't work too well - he'd never been the best at Charms - so he threw a bucket of water over her instead. He would never admit to being terrified of the growl that came from her throat, but Pettigrew decided to stay a few paces back nonetheless.

Voldemort entered the tent, wand held loosely to the side as he walked over to survey Lettie. He frowned at Pettigrew, even though the man was grovelling on the ground and couldn't see his expression.

"Why is she wet?" he asked, his words casual but the tone with which they were delivered sent a shiver of fear up Pettigrew's spine.

"S-s-she was s-s-sick, my Dark Lord," he stammered, his eyes not leaving the dirt floor beneath him.

"Is your wand broken, Pettigrew?"

"N-no, my Dark Lord," he said quietly.

A swift kick to the stomach had Pettigrew rolling onto his back, clutching his body in pain.

"Get out of my sight," Voldemort hissed.

With gasping breaths, Pettigrew forced himself to crawl out of the tent. Voldemort sighed and looked to Lettie, as if apologising for the rat-like man's incompetence. He raised his wand, and Lettie didn't quite flinch, but she did close her eyes in anticipation. A warm rush of wind settled over her and Lettie opened her eyes to find that she was dry once more.

"Why?" she asked, confused.

"Because you should not be treated like an animal," Voldemort murmured, glancing to ensure that the tent's flaps were closed securely after Pettigrew's less than dignified exit. "You are more than that, aren't you?" he asked, his lips curving into a smile.

Lettie knew that he was trying to play to her emotions, trying to get on her good side so he could turn her later. She remembered what Pansy had looked like after being rescued from Voldemort, and knew that whatever Voldemort might have wanted from her wouldn't keep her safe for long. Lettie had no desire to succumb to him now anyway, and whatever Virginia had given her was making her felt nauseous again. She was unable to stop from being sick once more, the acidic concoction landing directly on Voldemort's robes. All pretence gone, he screamed about her ungratefulness and hexed her, watching with pleasure as she writhed in pain. He cleaned his robes and left immediately, Lettie panting on the dirt behind him.

Well, her head felt somewhat clearer now, Lettie mused, but she noted that she still couldn't hear the others in her head.

She looked at her surroundings, trying to determine where she was so that she could tell the others the moment she could hear them again. There wasn't much to go on: the tent was small, especially by magical standards, there were no windows, and the only light that filtered in was from the far side of the tent where a misplaced peg was allowing sunlight in through the gap at the bottom.

Her hands were bound and roped to a peg in the ground. Lettie tried to pull the peg out, but it didn't move an inch, and she figured that it had been set in the ground with magic. She hadn't been allowed much rope, and as it was, Lettie doubted that she would even be able to feed herself on her own. She shuddered at the idea of someone like Pettigrew feeding her. Lettie's ankles had been bound too, but on wiggling her feet, she found that the rope there had been tied rather loosely. They were still too tight to get out of completely though, and unless she found something sharp to cut the ropes, Lettie realised that she would be Voldemort's captive for the gods' knew how long.

The choker was still around her neck, and Lettie was momentarily disappointed that it hadn't been taken off of her. She could have turned into a beast and escaped, she was sure of it. Nearly all of Voldemort's army had been captured, killed, or run off after Ginevra's wave went through Riddle House. She had only seen Pettigrew so far, but Lettie wasn't sure how many of Voldemort's Death Eaters waited outside of the tent, or even if he had any Death Eaters left to fight for him. Virginia was with him now, so maybe she had helped Voldemort to recruit more Death Eaters since Ginevra took out the ones at Riddle House?

Lettie struggled to sit up properly, her legs stretched before her and her hands resting on her lap. She knew that she wouldn't be able to take the choker off, but maybe she could control the seed of evil that was still inside of her. Lettie might be able to increase it to the point where the choker didn't matter. She could turn into a beast, break the ropes around her, turn back into a human, and get away without alerting anyone. Okay, it was a risky plan, one that relied on her keeping her humanity even if she could control the evil inside of her in the first place, but if it worked, then it would be worth the risk.

Closing her eyes, Lettie started to meditate, her mind slowly reaching out to the evil that rested inside of her.

... b ...

Draco wasn't overly surprised when he saw that Julianne and Garion were waiting for him in the library as he stepped out of the fireplace. He'd been just as angry as Ginevra at Lettie's kidnapping, and the sudden influx of emotion would have woken them and put them on high alert. He was surprised, however, to see the anger that encompassed Julianne on hearing what had happened. When Ginevra told Draco that it was Voldemort and Virginia who had kidnapped Lettie, he passed the information on and watched as Garion's anger grew to match his wife's.

"We promise you our help in finding Lettie, Draconius," Jules said, leaving to gather the Veelas.

"Lettie reminds Jules of her own companion," Garion murmured with a sigh. "She enjoys the talks she and Lettie have after you've been given your report."

"I didn't know that they talked," Draco admitted.

"They only started a month ago, but they seem to enjoy each other's company. They have tea together and talk, and it has been too long since Jules has had a friend outside of the Veela house," Garion murmured. "You're certain that Voldemort and Virginia have kidnapped her?"

"Yes, Lord Garion. The magical residue left in the vampire mansion indicates that it was definitely Voldemort and Virginia. They seem to be working together now."

"If they are working together, then the Veelas that are under her enthralment may also be at the Black Lord's disposal."

"Dark Lord," Draco corrected, trying not to smile at his mistake.

"Really? Oh... Well, it's a stupid title anyway."

"This coming from the man who once threatened someone for incorrectly addressing him as 'Earl Garion'," Jules said, rolling her eyes as she returned, the Veelas following her. "We're ready. I assume you're gathering your friends and allies to help find Lettie, and fight the ones who have taken her?"

"Yes, Lady Julianne. They've been called and we're all gathering at Hogwarts now that the wards have been strengthened against Voldemort and the Death Eaters," Draco said.

"Good. Let's go then," she said with a grin, her wings appearing.

The library's double doors that led to the forest outside opened as she walked over, the Veelas following suit and flying up into the air to go to Hogwarts.

... b ...

Ollivander listened to the impatient knocking at the door, his hands stilling over his teapot as he waited to find out if the knocker was a friend or foe. The twins had updated his security measures at their sister's request, but what wasn't known to those outside was that Ollivander would get five full seconds of warning before the person could enter the house if they were being held against their will. It wasn't a very long amount of time, but he could Apparate or at least turn into a wand or tree in shorter time than that.

The door opened without any alarms or flashing lights, and Oscar sighed in relief as he headed out to his lounge room with a cup of tea in hand.

"Hello, Oscar. I'm sorry to come at such short notice like this, but I need the bags that I asked you to make for me. Are they ready yet?" Ginevra asked.

"Yes, they've been ready for a few days, actually, but I knew that you'd come when you really needed them. Fred and George were kind enough to get me extra ingredients, so there's a few more bags than you originally asked for," he replied with a smile.

"I hope it wasn't too much trouble for you to make this many," Ginevra said, seeing the large box sitting by his armchair.

"Not at all, dear girl. In fact, I quite enjoyed making the extra bags too. It gave me something to do while I'm hiding away here."

"I'm glad then. If there's anything else I can do for you, just ask me. I'm sure you're going stir crazy on your own."

"Well, since you are offering, I would very much like to make wands again. I left my tools in my shop though... Of course, it's a big risk to even ask it of you, but I feel restless and, apart from those bags, it's the only thing I know how to do."

"But don't you need to use magic for the cores?" Ginevra asked warily.

"Yes, but the cores can be done at a later date. The wands themselves take the most time to bring to life. The wood I can get with dryad magic; it's quite safe since no one knows how to look for that magical signature anymore," Oscar said a little sadly.

"All right then; I'll try. Where are your tools?"

Smiling, Oscar told her where he kept his tools in the back workroom and thanked her warmly.

"You're welcome. I just hope no one's watching the shop anymore," Ginevra said, more to herself than Ollivander.

"Oh, before you go, may I just say congratulations to the Vampire Council's newest Elder," he said with a pleased smile and slight bow.

"Thank you," Ginevra said with a smile, her hand going to the armlet on her upper right arm that signified her as a Council Elder.

It was a simple silver band that had a decorative swirl in the middle, the two ends not quite touching. Agnes had told her that it was Elvish, and Ginevra had seen the ringlet give off a faint shimmer of blue in the right light.

"You should go now, I am sure the people that need those bags will be needing them sooner rather than later," Oscar said, gently reminding her that she had to get back to the Council.

"Yes, of course. Thank you again, Oscar. I'll bring your tools by as soon as I can," Ginevra promised.

Oscar thanked her once more and watched as she left his small cottage to Disapparate.

... b ...

Parvati, Padma, George and Fred were the first to arrive at Hogwarts, all four more than glad to have a reason to escape the Patil parents. They weren't pleased at the reason, of course, but Kali's not-so-subtle hints of marriage and babies had them wanting to claw at the windows to get away. Savi's glares and threats of setting Khara the tiger on them paled in comparison to his wife's suggestions about where to hold the wedding, how many people to invite, etc. Even Parvati and Padma had had enough of their mother's meddling by the time they had finished eating their first meal.

Lettie's kidnapping had sent Padma on a rage, and she'd almost destroyed the set of jade elephant statues in the Patil foyer. They'd all managed to calm her enough to Apparate back to Hogwarts, and then Padma had let loose on the students that had already started training. More than one student ended up in the hospital wing when Padma had finally spent herself, collapsing on the grass with a sob of anguish.

The grass suddenly shot up around her, obscuring Padma from view and muffling her sobs gently. Fred and George looked over to see Neville coming over with Blaise and Seamus, his green thumbs glowing. Parvati stepped into the long grass to sit beside her sister, hugging her.

"Who's that?" George asked, nodding to the young woman trailing behind them.

"Karma, the nymph we were looking for. She's become overly attached to Seamus, but has made an agreement with the King and Queen not to do anything. If she breaks her agreement, Blaise gets to determine her punishment," Neville replied, Blaise scowling.

"Seems like a fair arrangement," Fred said diplomatically, raising his eyebrows at George briefly.

"Where are Ginevra and Draco anyway?" George asked quickly, not liking his twin's chances if Blaise saw his expression.

"They left Hogwarts as soon as they realised what happened to Lettie. I think they've gone to the vampires and Veelas for help," Neville replied.

"Hopefully they'll agree to help. If Lettie was right about Voldemort and Virginia teaming up, I don't like our chances that there's only a couple of Death Eaters with him," Blaise muttered.

Get out of the way! Luna called loudly.

Not knowing where to go to get out of the way (or even how they were in the way in the first place) there was a bit of noise and confusion as they tried to do as Luna said. Mere seconds after they'd scattered - wands drawn and hands on swords, unsure if they were under threat - a dragon landed on the grass. Luna slipped off Colin's back gently, her legs coming close to buckling under her. A plant hurried to hold her up properly, and she thanked Neville and Seamus silently. Colin turned back into his human form, stretching his arms in relief after the long flight. He ensured that Luna would be all right before turning to greet everyone.

"So, I'm guessing Lettie's kidnapping is worse than we thought if you've decided to come, Luna?" Blaise asked.

"Unfortunately so. I've sent word for Gregory and Pansy to come as soon as they've finished their business at the troll camp," she added.

"What 'bout Theo and Mill? They're nae here either," Seamus pointed out.

"They will not be needed until Lettie is found once more," Luna said certainly. "I have assured them of this, and will send word for them to arrive immediately when she is found."

"All right then. So where do we start looking?" Padma asked.

"I have little to go on, but I know the maps that will be the most useful," Luna said, flicking her wand.

A small table filled with scrolls appeared before her, and any hope that the others had was dashed at the sight.

"There's more than twenty scrolls here! The first one alone covers all of Asia!" Parvati said in dismay.

"That one can definitely go. I can't tell the difference between the maps by touch alone, you know. You'll have to describe them to me so I can tell whether they'll be of any use," Luna said.

"Right. As the map for all of Asia is not needed, does that mean any of the smaller Asian country maps can go too?" Fred asked.

"In this instance, yes, that's right."

George gave his brother a nod and they sorted through the scrolls silently, throwing the ones that weren't needed over their shoulders. Colin caught each of them before they could land in the mud; just because they weren't needed right at that moment didn't mean they wouldn't be useful further down the track. When the Asian maps were removed, Fred and George started looking at the fifteen scrolls that were left.

"Wizarding map of Russia?"

"Keep that one," Luna said with a nod.

"Map of United Kingdom, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales?"

"Muggle or wizard?"

"Uh, looks to be both," Fred replied, the ink shimmering in the sunlight.

"Keep it then. The Muggle one can be put aside," Luna replied.

"Right," George said, throwing the map in his hands over his shoulder and grabbing the next one.

Padma and Parvati had started to help Colin catch the scrolls that were being thrown, and Seamus was holding a bag for them to be put into.

"South America?" George asked.

"Not needed now. Neither is North America, actually," Luna said. "Wait!" she said urgently, just as George was about to throw the scroll away. "South America isn't needed for Lettie, but it will be needed for Ric. I'd almost forgotten about him hiding away in the Andes."

Fred and George looked to each other, surprised that they'd forgotten about Ric too. They shrugged slightly - they wouldn't forget about Ric now - and continued to sort out the maps for Luna until there were only four left.

"Does anyone know what that is?" Neville asked, redirecting everyone's attention up into the sky.

Everyone followed his gaze to see what looked like a large white cloud moving towards them. Though the wind was moving in the opposite direction, and the cloud didn't look like a normal cloud, but far more solid.

Honestly, what do you think it is? It's me and the rest of the Veelas, Draco drawled. We'll need a lot of space to land, I've got all of the Torleni clan with me, he added.

They cleared the field quickly, moving to the edge of the tree line to watch as the mass of bodies descended. Thankfully, both Draco and Julianne had told the clan to repress their Veela powers, or else the field would have been swarming with students and teachers alike. Julianne and Garion landed first, their wings disappearing as their feet touched the ground. Behind them, the tens of Veelas that had come with them followed suit. It was difficult to see Draco in the mass of bodies; most were blonde, and all seemed to be wearing the same brilliant-white outfit. Draco stepped out of the crowd with a slight smirk, his expression falling when he realised that Ginevra hadn't returned yet, and that Luna was there.

"It's that serious then?" he asked Luna.

"I'm afraid so. We'll need to organise two hunting parties if we can spare the people," she replied.

I think I can help with that, Ginevra announced.

They looked to each other with frowns, but before anyone could question her, Ginevra stepped out of the trees with Xavier and Agnes behind her. All three had Ollivander's bags tucked around their necks. As they all looked properly, they could see tens of red eyes glowing in the trees; obviously, the rest of the vampires that had come with Ginevra and the two Elders.

What are you wearing? Parvati asked hesitantly.

Traditional garb for Council Elders. Don't laugh; I didn't design this horrid thing, Ginevra muttered, tugging slightly at the long sleeves and high necked collar.

Don't mention Dracula, don't mention Dracula, don't mention Dracula, Colin said in a mantra, Luna laughing softly beside him.

Oh, shove off, Ginevra said with a glower.

"Garion; I take it that none of yours will attack ours?" Xavier asked, his eyebrow raised slightly.

"So long as none of yours attack any of ours, we should all be fine," Garion replied with a glare.

"Hello to you too, brother," Julianne said, her hands on her hips as she glared at Xavier. "Stop insulting Garion to try and get a rise out of him."

"I was simply asking a question, sister."

"Oh gods, I hope we're not that old and still arguing," Fred muttered to George.

"Shut up-shut up-shut up," George hissed when both Julianne and Xavier turned in their direction.

Both Fred and George gave innocent smiles and tried not to look too hex-worthy.

If you mention their ages again, I think they'll show you how they survived two wars to reach that age, Ginevra said with a grin.

Let me deal with this. Everyone else take the vampires and Veelas into the Hogwarts castle the moment I say so. Don't forget sun shields or parasols, Luna added.

"It is a pleasure to have both the vampires and Veelas' assistance in Lettie's kidnapping; although I do wish we were all working together under different circumstances," Luna said diplomatically. "If you would like to come inside with us, I'm sure the Professors and Headmistress would like to be told of your arrival, and the reason for it."

The house elves should be warned too. We'll take care of that, Fred and George said, leaving to Ginevra's rooms and the inner tunnels before Xavier or Julianne could do anything to them.

Blaise, Seamus, Neville, please stay behind. Send Karma ahead with Ginevra and Draco, please, Luna said.

With pleasure, Blaise muttered.

"Karma, can you help Ginevra and Draco, please? Blaise, Seamus, and I need to talk with Luna privately," Neville said.

Karma didn't look overly happy, but saw that Ginevra and Draco were waiting on her. Muttering under her breath, Karma left with them reluctantly.

When they were the only four left standing outside, Luna turned towards the tree line and headed into the Forbidden Forest. Confused, but not wanting to question her when it seemed that Luna wouldn't answer their question anyway, Blaise, Neville, and Seamus followed her into forest without a word.

... b ...

Gregory stood before the King with Pansy beside him, wishing that the King would stop his rant about how Gregory had left the South American trolls and potentially ruined their treaty, and just get to the matter at hand already. He and Pansy had only returned to the troll camp in order to determine who had tried to poison Gregory, and then they had to get to Hogwarts to help the others find Lettie.

You honestly let yourself and your kind be led by this fool who claims to be a King? Poseidon asked, sounding both incredulous and disgusted.

He doesn't really run things, thankfully. Everyone usually listens to Griselda; she must have gained her mother's common sense, Gregory added.

Where is her mother? Poseidon asked, seeing the empty throne on the other side of the King.

It's told that she fought against an ogre and lost.

Not much common sense then.

She did it to protect her daughter from being eaten.

Poseidon went quiet at Gregory's explanation and didn't seem inclined to comment on anything further. Gregory returned his attention to the King's ranting. Beside him, even Pansy seemed to be losing her calm exterior.

"Father, I think it might be best if Gregory continued his investigation. We need this traitor to be found," Griselda said, finally interrupting her father.

"Oh. Yes, of course. Of course he should. Go on then, what are you still doing here?" the King asked.

Gregory gave a bow, Pansy curtsying beside him out of courtesy, and they both left as fast as they could. The King started ranting again, this time about the quality of his mead, and Griselda decided that she could help find the traitor too.

"Princess Griselda," Pansy acknowledged when she caught up with them.

"War General's future bride," she said with a nod.

"You can just call me Pansy."

"Pansy... Do you have any idea who tried to poison you, war General?"

"Yes, I do," Gregory said, obviously surprising Griselda.

They went outside and headed towards the outskirts of the troll camp.

"You are going to ask Tharr's opinion?" Griselda asked, confused.

"Not exactly," Gregory muttered.

Beside him, Pansy's wand slipped into her hand, her other hand resting on the sword by her waist.

"B-but Tharr... He didn't do this to you! He has been locked away for all of this time," Griselda protested. "Father even took his wand away!"

"The wand doesn't matter, Princess. It's nothing more than a conduit; any stick would work just as well," Gregory replied.

Griselda kept walking with them, her heart sinking at the very thought that Tharr would do something like this. Well, Gregory still had to prove it, she thought decisively. And if he was wrong, she'd behead him herself.

... b ...

Millicent stirred on the bed, her body aching and her head throbbing in pain. Theodore was by her side in an instant, checking over her with his wand and murmuring softly, telling her to lie still for a moment. She followed his instruction quietly, her own eyes checking over him for damage as she remembered what had happened.

"How long have I been out?" Millicent asked, her throat dry.

"About a day. Almost done," Theodore added, doing a final spell to check her vitals.

With that all finished and determining that Millicent was truly all right, apart from a few bruises here and there, Theodore hugged her tightly. She hugged him back, surprised at the worry she could feel from him.

"I'm all right, Theo," Millicent assured him, rubbing his back. "It was only a few scratches; I've had worse from Remus."

"It was more than a few scratches, Mill. You took on two full-grown werewolves, not one wolf as scrawny Lupin! They really did a number on you," Theodore murmured, sitting up to look at her shoulder; the welts were still red despite everything he'd done.

"Yeah, well I wasn't just going to stand there and let you get hurt by them," she said.

Theodore was quiet for a moment, his hand moving from her shoulder to take her hand in his own. "I heard you after you changed into a wolf... You called me your mate."

"I did?"

He nodded, grinning now. "Yes, you did. I thought you said that it only happens between wolves?" he asked, his grin slipping.

"I... I thought it did. I've never heard of it happening outside of a pure wolf relationship before," Millicent said, frowning.

"So what does that mean for us now?" Theodore asked.

"It means that if I join a pack, you'll be ranked with me on the hierarchy rather than be seen as an outsider. You can't go hunting, obviously, but you'll essentially have the same rights as I do."

"Uh-huh... And what about us-us?"

"It means that my wolf has seen you as her mate. Sex will probably get rougher if my wolf is close," Millicent admitted, blushing slightly.

"You mean breaking the headboard wasn't rough?" Theodore asked with a grin, referring to the pile of toothpicks they'd reduced the headboard to only last week.

"Compared to what my wolf could do, that was foreplay. Foreplay with clothes on, at that," she added.

"Hmm. I think we'll have to put this theory into practice, don't you?" Theodore asked with a grin, kissing her lips gently.

The doorbell rang loudly, and he pulled away reluctantly, muttering about being cockblocked by a gods' damned bell.

"We could both still be asleep and conveniently sleep through the sound of the bell?" Millicent offered a lie, grinning.

"The dead couldn't sleep through that bell, Mill. I'll go answer the door; why don't you get the bubbles ready in the bath? They're the expanding ones, remember," Theodore added over his shoulder, heading downstairs.

Millicent already knew that it was Selena, Rob and Grant at the door; she'd smelled them as they came in through the front gate.

"Not missing this," Millicent muttered to herself, throwing the blanket off and going after Theodore, adjusting her nightgown properly.

"Oh, Millicent, I'm so glad that you're all right," Selena said warmly on seeing her behind Theodore.

"So am I. Theodore made sure of it," she said with a smile.

"What can we do for you?" Theodore asked pointedly, still not too happy that they'd been interrupted, nor at the presence of Grant and Rob so soon after the fight.

"I just came over to return your fruit platter. I'm happy to say that the kids all ate every bit of fruit," Selena added, grinning as she handed the platter back. "Grant and Rob came over to hide behind me."

Millicent put the empty platter on the small bench by the door, refusing to leave and miss any of this conversation.

"Hey, no we didn't!" Grant protested, glaring at his sister-in-law.

"Well, I didn't, at least," Rob muttered.

"We came to apologise, and to see if you and Millicent were all right," Grant said, barely repressing the urge to glare or whack Rob on the head.

"We're fine, no thanks to you two," Theodore said, his arms crossed over his chest.

Theodore, please don't aggravate them. They're trying to apologise. Do you know how hard it must be for a Beta and Delta wolf to apologise to me? I'm an unranked wolf!

No harder than it was for me to see you get hurt by them. I'm not letting this go, Mill. I don't care if they have to run up and down the street with their tails between their legs; if they're not truly remorseful about hurting you, then I'm not going to forgive them. And even if they are remorseful, I'll still be pissed off at them.

"Yeah, I know. I really am sorry about that; I didn't mean to get so carried away. I don't react well when I'm directly challenged," Rob explained. "I know that I took it too far. I'm really sorry about all of it, and I'm just glad that you're both all right."

"I'm sorry too; I just... I can't back away when someone challenges me. I'm not saying it's your fault because believe me, I know it wasn't, you were just protecting him like I would've protected Serena or any of the kids... I shouldn't've taken the fight so far as to actually hurt you; I'm really sorry about that," Grant added.

They both looked and sounded genuine about their apologies, and Millicent took Theodore's hand in her own, looking at him pleadingly.

Please, Theo. They mean it, I know they do.

It's your decision, Mill. You're the one that was hurt by them.

"Matt's also made sure that it won't happen again. Even if they're directly challenged, Grant and Rob won't be able to do anything more than a single bite or scratch," Selena added.

"That can be more than enough for some," Theodore pointed out.

"If I don't survive a bite or scratch, then I don't deserve to be a wolf," Millicent muttered.

Rob and Grant chuckled, and even Selena smiled a bit. Theodore sighed and moved aside so Millicent could accept their apologies.

"I'm not saying I forgive you, because that was seriously over the top for something as simple as a protective growl; but I accept your apologies," Millicent said, shaking both of their hands.

Grant and Rob both thanked her, wished her well again, and started to leave.

"Hey, wait," Theodore called.

Millicent was surprised to smell a hint of fear coming from the two men on the path, and tried not to laugh at the thought of those two men being afraid of her Theo. Oblivious to their fear, Theodore stepped out of the house with a sigh, running his hand through his hair.

"I want you to know that I still don't accept your apologies, because a bunch of words means shit-all at the end of the day. The next time you hurt Mill like that, I'll be much more precise about where the lightning bolts hit... That being said, thanks for apologising and actually meaning it."

Both men nodded and left quickly. When they were gone, Theodore turned to Selena with a slight frown. "Are the kids all right? They seemed pretty terrified when I let that storm loose."

"They're great, actually. If we could get them to stop playing weather gods versus wolves, that might be better for us parents," Selena said, grinning broadly. "But really, don't worry about them. Kids bounce back faster than most people realise."

"That's good to hear. I've got some Sleeping Draughts handy if any of the kids starts to have nightmares," Theodore offered.

"Thanks, Theodore. That's really nice of you," Selena said with a gentle smile. "I'm sure they'll be fine, but I'll keep it in mind."

He gave a brief nod in return and stepped back into the house where Millicent was waiting. Selena left a moment later, and Theodore closed the door with a sigh.

"Just how bad was the storm anyway? I don't remember much about it," Millicent said.

"Hail, rain, gale-force winds, a few trees were blown over, I started a lightning fire, and I think I was on the verge of creating a tornado when you woke up."

Millicent looked at Theodore for a long moment, frowning deeply. "You must've been terrified to go to extremes like that," she murmured, cupping his face in her palm.

"I was, Mill... I just snapped when I saw you like that; I don't even think I was in control of myself," he admitted, pulling her close for another hug.

Wrapping her arms around Theodore gently, Millicent tried to reassure him that she was all right - she was alive, and not going anywhere any time soon - without saying a word.

... b ...

Niryal flitted ahead, too bored to keep to the path or follow Neville's slower pace, no one was quite sure. The Night Fairy didn't care to comment either way, and flew above the trees, diving down only to pull up at the last minute and dart between the tree trunks wildly. Her erratic pattern reminded Blaise of his own earlier escapade through the Forbidden Forest.

"Luna, are ye sure we're headed th' righ' way? Heck, are we still in th' Forbidden Forest? I donnae any of this," Seamus said, looking at the foreign expanse of trees with a frown.

As a Protector, Seamus thought he knew every tree in the Forbidden Forest!

"We're going in the right direction, don't worry. The reason you don't recognise any of these trees is because they don't technically belong to the Forbidden Forest. There was a blue flash of light earlier, wasn't there?" Luna asked.

"Yes; I thought it was just a trick of the light," Neville said, frowning.

"It was no light trick. It was a portal to this place. They'd been deactivated until Ginevra let out that wave of power during The Vision. She accidentally turned them all back on again, all over the world. The blue light means that it's on, and the portals themselves are usually made out of stone. This one had so much overgrowth it just looked like a very odd tree," Luna said, shaking her head briefly. "Now, do you see a tree with three knots on the trunk? We should be nearing it soon."

"Found it!" Niryal called from up ahead.

They reached Niryal soon enough, and as Luna had said, there was a tree with three knots on the trunk.

"Tap the top knot, then the bottom, and then the middle knot twice," Luna instructed.

Niryal tapped out the pattern before Blaise, Neville or Seamus could attempt it, and she let out a yell of surprise when the tree split in half entirely, each half of the tree falling to either side of them.

"Step through, quickly now," Luna instructed.

Wary and somewhat cautious, they stepped over the broken tree and into the small clearing beyond it. When Luna and Niryal had joined them, the tree made an odd noise and they turned to see that the trunk had mended itself completely.

"That was fucking weird," Niryal said with a shudder.

"It's a Wilting Willow. They were first used to hide the wizarding world from Muggles. Then the Muggles had the brilliant idea to chop down trees to use for fuel, and most of the trees were either relocated or destroyed entirely so the Muggles wouldn't discover the unique properties of their bark," Luna explained.

"Okay, it's an interestin' tree an' all, but what's it got ter do with us?" Seamus asked.

"See that path over to the right there? At the end of that is your answer," Luna said with a smile.

Despite his questions, Seamus was the first one to start down the path and into the odd forest.

The path was surprisingly short, and they reached the end within a few minutes. Stopping short when he came to the end, Seamus stared at the structure before him. Neville and Blaise moved so that they could see properly, and they all just stared in surprise.

"Well, what do you think?" Luna asked. She frowned when they didn't reply. "We are in the right place, aren't we? Two-storey house, big windows, the whole thing covered in plants?" Luna asked.

"If by 'covered in plants', you mean a literal green-fucking-house, then yeah, I'd say we're in the right damn place," Niryal said.

"Oh, good. Neville, Seamus, if you'd just give the plants a bit of a wake up call and push to move back? It's been centuries for the poor things," Luna said sympathetically.

Finally brought out of their stupor, Neville and Seamus worked together to wake up the mass of plants and ask them to move out of the house and back into the forest. The plants agreed easily, glad for someone to talk to after so long, and slowly retreated with promises of being cared for properly once again.

"Now, I'm sure you probably don't want to clean it all up today, but I still wanted to show you where this was. It's not owned by anyone, the house has been forgotten for longer than the plants themselves, and since it's been empty for so long it's now yours to own. Of course, as it's not entirely in the mortal world, you should be able to move to the nymph world a lot easier now, Neville," Luna added.

"What do you mean it's not entirely in the mortal world?" Neville asked, frowning slightly.

"Well, when things are forgotten as long as this place has been, they tend to get... shifted aside to make more space for other things. If they're forgotten about entirely, or not used within a millennium of being forgotten, then they just ... well, they sort of disappear. It's actually very sad. Cassandra's world was so much bigger compared to ours. In different ways, of course," Luna admitted. "Our world is shrinking for the Muggle world, and we're losing these beautiful places far too often. In fact, if I hadn't brought you out here, the Wilting Willow would have been lost to us completely after next month."

"It's not going to be lost now, and us along with it?" Blaise asked warily.

"Of course not; the Wilting Willow's been used now, so it cannot fade away for another millennia. The same goes for the entire forest, the house, and the creatures living in here. I don't think any of them will trouble you," Luna said, frowning slightly. "Just be careful if you hear a Jabberwocky."

"A what?" Seamus asked.

"Everyone knows the Jabberwockies are extinct, Luna," Blaise said.

"Not extinct, just very good at hiding."

"That's just great. We don't have ter worry about bein' killed by Voldemort or Death Eaters; we've got a friggin' Jabberwocky that'll probably kill us instead!" Seamus said.

"Oh, please, there's no need to be so dramatic. Jabberwockies are herbivores, Seamus," Luna said.

"If they're herbivores, why do we have to be careful if we hear one?" Blaise asked pointedly.

"Because you'll probably scare the poor thing. It hasn't had company for a very long time, and with all of the noise you three can make, you'll probably terrify it."

"I'd pay ter see tha'," Seamus muttered.

"If you're not happy with the house, or this place, then we can just go. I'm not forcing you to stay here against your will; I just thought you might like a place to yourselves. Of course, if you hate it that much, you can just Obliviate yourselves. If you forget about this completely by the end of the day, everything will disappear," Luna said.

"We'll have a look around," Blaise said after a long moment of silence, taking Seamus and Neville's hands and walking up to the house with them.

"Is there really a freaking Jabberwocky here, Luna?" Niryal asked with a grin.

"Of course there is. He's very shy, so I wouldn't expect to see him for at least another six months," she replied.

Luna gave a smile at Niryal's frustrated mutter, then turned and left to go back to the Wilting Willow to leave the three wizards alone in what she hoped would be their new home.

... b ...

Gregory knocked on Tharr's door, standing back a few paces as he waited for an answer. He wasn't sure if it would be safe to simply open the door and walk into Tharr's room, and refused to take that risk, especially while Pansy and Griselda were present. Gregory frowned slightly when there was no answer. Tharr was still meant to be under house arrest while he wasn't accompanied by Griselda, the King, or an assigned guard.

"All of the guards are with the King at the moment. Has Tharr's sentence changed since I left, Princess?" Gregory asked, his frown deepening.

"No," she replied reluctantly. "He should be inside."

Gregory knocked again, harder this time, and the stone door shuddered under his fist. Again, there was no answer. He stopped knocking, his wand slipping into his hand as he heard a faint noise behind him. Without warning, Gregory spun on his heel, a hex leaving his lips in the same instant. Tharr barely dodged the oncoming hex, the spell singeing his vest.

"Not the welcome I usually expect," Tharr said drily.

"Why are you outside? More importantly, how are you outside?" Gregory asked, his wand never leaving Tharr's large form.

Tharr didn't seem inclined to answer, stepping past them to open his door and go inside. All three followed him wordlessly, both Pansy and Gregory keeping their wands trained on him. Griselda's eyes widened slightly on seeing the amount of books that Tharr had in his house. She couldn't read some of the titles, but from the ones that she could read, Griselda saw that they were spell books. These were the sorts of books that had gotten Tharr exiled to the edge of the troll camp and put under house arrest in the first place!

"How did you get these? Why would you?" Griselda asked.

"Flourish and Blotts have an owl delivery service. You have no idea how mindlessly dull it was, sitting here day in, day out, with nothing to do. I decided that since I'd been banned from reading these sort of books, I might as well make the ban worthwhile."

"You were punished for reading?" Pansy asked with a frown.

"Not exactly... I was punished for using the knowledge in the books to do magic. It is forbidden for trolls to use magic. Well, for most trolls, that is," Tharr added, looking to Gregory pointedly.

"So... You learnt a spell, used the spell, and were exiled away? What spell did you use?"

Tharr stayed silent, and Pansy looked to Griselda for an answer.

"He performed two spells: an Aquamenti spell, and the Cruciatus Curse," she replied quietly. "My father wasn't always the way he is now," Griselda added.

"You used an Unforgivable on the King?" Gregory asked Tharr, his jaw slack. "How are you still alive?"

"The Aquamenti spell saved the clan when a fire was set in the tavern; I was given a position of honour in the clan. Then the unfortunate accident with the King happened. My position was revoked, and magic was outlawed. As I had saved everyone earlier, I was exiled rather than killed."

"You had Gregory's position as war General, didn't you?" Pansy asked with a sigh, connecting the dots quickly.

"Yes, I did. I performed magic and was banished! But when a wizard joins the clan and tricks his way into getting my rightful position, no one thinks anything of it!"

"I didn't use magic to try and kill the King! I've only used magic once during training to help the trolls work together!"

"Our ways were fine before you came along!" Tharr shouted, rising up to his full height.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, Gregory remembered the solid stone door that Tharr had cracked with nothing more than a punch.

"The only explanation is that you used magic on the King to get this position. Becoming war General isn't something that just happens, especially not to trolls that have been in the troll camp for barely a month!"

Gregory tried to defend himself and say that he'd been promised the position, anything to make Tharr see reason, but the larger troll didn't look as though he would listen. If he couldn't make him see reason, maybe he could make him confess instead.

"How did you do it, Tharr?" Gregory asked. "How did you try to kill me without leaving your house?"

"The Imperius Curse. Wandless magic is easy to perform if you've had enough practice. Since I was stuck in here, all I've had is time to practice."

"So you hexed your guard to put poison on my door and waited?"

Tharr nodded. "Of course, when I was called upon, I thought I would be going to examine a dead body. Instead, you were alive through sheer luck. I kicked the door in and set fire to the room to destroy any evidence; I still doubt that there was anything there to implicate me, but I didn't want to take any chances."

Griselda finally seemed to stop staring at Tharr in shock. "What were you going to do if you had killed Gregory?"

"Get my position back as war General, then challenge the King to a fight for his throne, kill him with magic if I had to, and take you as my bride. The trolls listen to you, Griselda, and if you were by my side, they might not be so rebellious after the King's death."

"And now that you've been found out, what are you going to do?" Griselda asked, the room already starting to spin around her.

He's been telling us too much far too easily, Pansy thought to Gregory, frowning. Somehow, I don't think he plans on letting us live.

Before Gregory could reply, Tharr lashed out, his arm connecting with his head and throwing Gregory across the room. Much like the stone door, Gregory crashed against the far wall and landed in a heap. Pansy had drawn her sword in this time and managed to land a blow before Tharr realised that she'd moved to attack him. He let out a fierce roar, thick rivets of blood streaming down his arm as he picked up his club and swung at her. Pansy blocked the club, dodging to the side to swing at him again. Tharr concentrated, a silent spell forming as he raised his club, and slowly, the desk behind Pansy began to lift into the air.

Behind Tharr, Gregory stirred, his head pounding and blood oozing down the side of his face. He sat up groggily, the room spinning around him. When he was able to see properly, Gregory saw the desk levitating into the air behind Pansy and struggled to help her. He already knew that he wouldn't be able to get over to them in time, and his mind was still fuzzy from hitting the wall so he couldn't even remember the spell to stop the desk, let alone try to warn Pansy silently. Gregory lurched forward as the desk began to drop and wrapped his arms around Tharr's torso, barely able to lock his fingers together around the large troll. He succeeded in breaking Tharr's concentration, but Gregory hadn't figured on the desk dropping all that quicker towards Pansy. He let out a noise of distress and urgency, his mind still too scrambled to form complete words, and pushed Tharr out of the way to get to Pansy.

Pansy heard Gregory's garbled noise and tried to turn around to see what he was indicating to. It all happened so quickly; one minute she was standing with her sword drawn, and the next she was being pushed to the ground, a large body crushing down on her and pieces of the wooden table breaking over them. It seemed that Griselda had finally broken out of her stupor. She'd pushed Pansy aside before the large table crushed her, but she didn't seem to be moving even though they were both safe. Pansy belatedly realised that she was still holding the sword and had probably stabbed Griselda.

Greg! Get her off; I might have stabbed her by accident!

Gregory's mind was starting to clear, and he lifted Griselda off Pansy carefully, a sword sticking out of her torso. She was still alive; barely, but she was still breathing and there was a strong grip on his hand as he helped her lie down on the floor gently. A low laugh behind him made Gregory realise that Tharr was still in the room and intent on killing them.

"Oh, this is perfect. I just have to hand you over to the King for killing his beloved daughter, and the trolls will look up to me for capturing you, despite being too late to save the Princess' life. The King will be even more irresponsible after the death of his daughter, and no one will mind if I take the throne from him, however bloody that takeover may be," Tharr said, looking down on Griselda's blood-covered body with a cold smile.

This guy is really starting to piss me off. Put up a shielding spell and then take the sword out so I can heal Griselda, would you?

What? Are you sure that's a good idea, Pans? Gregory asked, wondering if he was concussed.

I watched Theo when he fixed Lettie after she was stabbed through; I know what to do. Trust me, Pansy replied.

Gregory did a shielding spell and with a nod to Pansy, he pulled the sword out of Griselda. She gasped in pain, her breathing starting to come in shallow gasps as she stared past them and to Tharr. He didn't seem worried about what Pansy was doing, watching with a cold smile as Griselda slowly died on the ground before him.

... b ...

Through the small gap at the bottom of the tent, Lettie could see that the sun was starting to set. She was still working on enlarging the evil inside of her. It was bigger than it had been earlier, but it wasn't enough to loosen her choker and free the beast yet. It didn't help that Pettigrew and Voldemort had returned to try and get her to talk.

They wanted to know where her friends were, the ones that had destroyed some of the most loyal Death Eaters Voldemort had ever gathered. It had taken him years to garner that sort of trust with his inner-circle of Death Eaters, and then with one red wave, they'd all been turned into nothing more than shells. Oh, yes, some had survived the ordeal, but they were of no more use to him than the ones that had died.

The ones that had destroyed them needed to be punished. Of course, Lettie would be spared if she gave their location and helped them get inside. And, as Voldemort was feeling generous, she could even choose one person to be spared from his wrath. Wasn't that such a lovely and generous offer from the Dark Lord?

Lettie didn't answer, her mind busy even though her body hadn't moved a muscle in hours. She had continued to work at the evil inside of her all through Voldemort's speech, and refused to even consider what he said. Lettie remembered Pansy's broken body, she remembered the pristine body of Vincent that had to be pried from Pansy, and she remembered the Muggles that he had caged like animals. Lettie knew that whatever he promised or threatened, she would never give her friends up.

Realising that his audience wasn't as captive as her binds made her seem, Voldemort hexed her with the Cruciatus Curse, watching with a furled lip as she writhed and screamed her pain.

The Cruciatus Curse had set Lettie back hours, and she had to work on it again. Now, she'd managed to reach the same level as before. Was it her imagination, or was her choker feeling a little looser?

She repressed her excited emotion and continued to concentrate, her mind focused on nothing more than enlarging the evil inside of her.

It continued for another three hours, and Lettie could feel the choker loosening inch by inch, the evil ball beginning to grow larger. Her breathing became more ragged, her teeth started to lengthen, and her vertebrae began to change into sharp spikes. When she felt the choker slip off completely, Lettie opened her eyes with a feral grin.

The beast replaced Lettie in less than a heartbeat, and tore out of the binds a moment later. Flexing her muscles, she dug her paws into the soft earth beneath her and then leapt forward, ripping the tent to pieces as she made her escape. There was a scream of fear when the beast appeared, but then Lettie found herself bound and surrounded. She snarled, trying to get out of the binds unsuccessfully. Virginia and Voldemort made their way over to her, the multitudes of Death Eaters that had been surrounding the tent keeping their wands pointed directly at her. It had been a trap, and Lettie had physically leapt straight into it.

Voldemort's red eyes gleamed as he looked down at her with a smile. His bony hand pointed the wand down at her, but Virginia stilled his hand before he could hex Lettie. Virginia stepped over Lettie's body and into the mess of tent material. She reached down with a careful precision and pulled out what could have been nothing more than a piece of string, but was actually Lettie's choker. Virginia had wrapped and tied the choker around Lettie's neck once more before anyone properly registered that she'd even moved. Before their eyes, Lettie's body began to shrink and she howled as her spine returned to normal, fangs disappearing and paws lengthening into human fingers. As Lettie's vocal cords changed her howl turned into a scream of anguish, soon giving way to raw sobs.

Virginia smiled coolly when she saw something glinting in the moonlight; Lettie's engagement ring. She stood and held out a hand for Voldemort's wand. He handed it to her immediately without question, and both he and the gathered Death Eaters watched in a morbid fascination as Virginia said a spell, slowly slicing Lettie's ring finger off, her screams echoing in the night.

... b ...

"You cannot stop me from helping, Mother," Miles hissed, glaring at Agnes.

"You cannot blame me for trying. I do not want to lose you; you are emotional and far more prone to making mistakes. Do not try to deny or argue it, Miles," Agnes added fiercely.

"Of course I'm emotional! My fiancŽe was kidnapped and I couldn't stop it!"

"You need to stop blaming yourself, Miles," Xavier said.

"Then who do you suggest I blame?" he asked, turning on his father and glaring at him, his teeth bared. "How about the man that weakened me and stopped me from finding her?!"

"How about the ones that actually kidnapped Lettie?" Xavier suggested. "Now, you can either keep blaming everyone for what's happened, or you can stop this nonsense and we can go out to find Lettie together."

Miles faltered at Xavier's words, letting out a heavy sigh. "Very well."

"Glad you decided to join us; you're just in time," Ginevra said with a grin when Xavier, Agnes and Miles arrived on the Quidditch Pitch. "We've narrowed the search down to six areas. Luna will be organising everyone into teams so we can cover more ground."

"Oh no," Luna whispered, her words lost as an owl screeched loudly in the night.

An unmarked owl flew overhead, dropping a parcel to where Ginevra and Draco were standing in front of the crowd. The smell of blood was faint, but it was still present. Ginevra's hands trembled as she opened the rectangular parcel, the cheerful wrapping and ribbon a stark contrast to the contents. Lettie's ring finger was displayed in the box carefully, the digit resting in a nest of tissue paper and cotton, her ring glinting in the low evening light.

"Three areas have just been eliminated," Luna murmured to Draco.

What? How? he asked, still reeling from receiving Lettie's finger.

"The owl came from a particular direction; three of those areas aren't in that direction," she replied. "Fred, George, there's no need for the Russian map, and the two Muggle maps."

The twins nodded woodenly, their eyes still trained on the box that held Lettie's finger. Padma and Parvati were standing between them, bristling with anger, blue lightning rippling over their bodies from their pixie magic.

Miles moved up to Ginevra and Draco, unable to look away from the box. He took the offered box, carefully lifting her finger out to remove the ring with all of the gentle care that he'd had when placing it on Lettie's hand in the first place. Before anyone could say or do anything, Miles sank his teeth into the finger, a tear trekking down his cheek as he experienced Lettie's thoughts and memories up until her finger had been removed. Through Lettie's blood, Miles relived her attempted escape, her realisation of the trap, and then the blinding pain of her finger being cut off at an excruciatingly slow pace.

When he opened his eyes, Miles found that he had fallen to his knees. As he stood up, he saw that the Veelas, vampires and Hogwarts students had already been organised into four groups.

"I thought there were only three places?" Miles asked Luna with a frown.

"There are; but Ric is in the Andes, and he needs to be found too," she replied quietly. "I didn't assign you to a group; I've left the choice up to you, Miles."

"I want to find Lettie," he said certainly and without hesitation.

In his pocket, his hand wrapped around the engagement ring that he'd given to Lettie earlier, and Miles swore his revenge silently.

"Can you tell me if there was anything useful in Lettie's memories, Miles?" Ginevra asked, stepping forward.

Miles looked at her in surprise; her tone was more military general than worried friend, and he bristled at her seemingly lack of concern. He said as much, and was answered with a brisk slap across the face.

"I've officially declared war on Voldemort and Virginia over this, Miles. Do not mistake my ability to compartmentalise my emotions for not having any. I am just as affected by this as you are; Lettie is my companion and my friend, and I am trying very hard not to have a breakdown in front of everyone. We will find her, and we will do what needs to be done. Until then, I refuse to weaken myself by being overly emotional and not thinking clearly."

Miles nodded briefly, his face stinging. "Very well. What would you have me do?"

"Relay Lettie's memories to me; I want to know what she's seen and heard since she was kidnapped."

"There is too much to relay out loud," Miles murmured, almost to himself.

A dagger appeared in his hand before anyone had time to process where it had come from and he sliced a small line in his palm, blood seeping from the wound immediately. Ginevra flicked her wand, transfiguring a strand of hair into a goblet, and caught the drops of blood quickly. She thanked Miles with a brief nod, drank the blood down in one gulp, her eyes closing as the memories assailed her.

... b ...

"Twelve bedrooms, an attic, four bathrooms, an indoor pool, and a gazebo in the orchid. That orchid has some trees that even I haven't seen before... What do you think? Suit your needs, Irish?" Neville asked, grinning at Seamus as Blaise kissed his neck.

They were standing in the master bedroom that already came furnished with a large king-size bed. The attic had stored boxes of magically shrunken furniture, and they'd spent most of the day going through the boxes in order to furnish the large house accordingly. As they'd gone along, Seamus had detailed exactly what he would be doing to who on what piece of furniture. It had made for a very interesting day.

Seamus turned around abruptly, pulling Blaise to his by his shirt roughly. "Hear tha', Blaise? Twelve fuckin' rooms," he murmured against his lips.

Blaise grinned broadly, his arms wrapped around Seamus' waist.

"So I guess we're keeping this place?" Neville asked with a chuckle.

"Well, we can't say no when we haven't tested the rooms out properly," Blaise said practically, Seamus already starting to undo his shirt.

"I think we've got something more important to do, don't you?" Neville asked pointedly, silently reminding them about Lettie.

Reluctantly and somewhat ashamed, Seamus pulled away from Blaise and rebuttoned his shirt quickly. "Right, let's get back an' help the others find Lettie," Seamus said, leaving the master bedroom before he could change his mind.

Neville kissed Blaise chastely and they followed after Seamus quickly.

The return journey back to Hogwarts didn't take as long as the one there; the portal that they had walked through originally was easier to spot and identify know that they knew what they were looking for. Neville promised himself that he would look in to the properties of the Wilting Willow when he had the time.

On arriving to Hogwarts, they saw that the castle was lit up and followed the noise up towards the Great Hall. The sight that met them was unexpected: groups of Veelas and vampires were sitting at tables together, conversing loudly and a few even laughing together. The vampires all had goblets filled with a dark red liquid, a similar shade to their eyes. Up at the teacher's table, Professor McGonagall was sitting between Agnes and Julianne with an indescribable expression on her face; Hagrid was sitting at the end, having a joyous conversation with Xavier about dragons; Flitwick was talking about Charms with Garion, the smaller man's wand already testing one on a hapless feather. In amongst the mass of bodies at the Slytherin table, Ginevra and Draco were sitting quietly, eating the bare minimum and not joining in the conversations around them.

Everything all right, Ginevra? Neville asked, frowning.

I'm just tired. We've received Lettie's ring finger, and war has officially been declared by both the vampires and Veelas on Voldemort and Virginia. We'll be going over search plans tomorrow morning. Tonight, Luna has instructed everyone to rest and feast. I can't seem to bring myself to do much of the latter, so I might leave to try and do the former instead, Ginevra said with a slight smile.

Would you like company? Neville offered. I'm sure Blaise and Seamus can spare me for a night.

No, it's all right. You eat and rest up. I'd like to hear about this place of yours sometime later, Ginevra added as she stood and walked over to them.

She kissed Neville's cheek gently, and gave a slight smile to Blaise and Seamus, saying good night silently before leaving the Great Hall. Draco was only a few seconds behind her, giving the three wizards a brief nod on his way out.

... b ...

"Keep her still; I don't care what you have to do. Sit on her if you have to, just make her stop moving!" Pansy demanded as Griselda started to thrash about in agony, pained moans tearing from her throat.

Gregory doubted that he'd be able to hold Griselda down, trying to think of another way to keep her still instead. Eventually, he Stupefied Griselda, hoping that whatever healing spell Pansy was doing would still work while she was frozen in such a way. Pansy didn't seem overly pleased with his method, but continued with her attempt to heal Griselda without another word or demand, so Gregory supposed that it would be fine for now. He returned his concentration to the shield, noticing that Tharr was starting to lose his smug demeanour and beginning to look worried instead.

"I'm guessing you never read the healing sections of your book, only the destruction parts, right?" Gregory asked, smirking.

Tharr didn't bother answering, instead choosing to bash his club against the shield in an attempt to break it.

"Might want to hurry, Pans. I think I made him angry," Gregory said with a grin.

"No, really? What gave you that idea?" Pansy muttered under her breath, not looking away from Griselda.

The head wound Gregory was sporting must have been more serious than he initially thought, or Tharr was stronger than he gave him credit for, because under his club, the magical shield was starting to weaken.

Oh, shit. This is bad, Gregory muttered, telling Pansy what was happening.

Just try to keep him back for another minute; Griselda should be stable enough to Apparate out of here then. Or maybe a few metres; I don't know how well my stitches are going to hold up, Pansy admitted.

Gregory gave a brief nod and put more power into his spell, thankful that Tharr didn't seem to know the counter-curse to remove his shield. The small crack that had formed began to repair slowly, and Tharr gave a roar as he swung the club even harder. There was a cracking sound and then the shield shattered completely, Gregory too weak from blood loss to keep it up any longer. Tharr's club continued to swing through the broken shards and hit Gregory with full force. He dropped to the ground with a heavy thud, blood pooling around his head. Pansy cried out, running over to help him, leaving Griselda for the moment.

Tharr gave a feral grin and swung his club again. Pansy dodged it, moving to stand behind him. Tharr turned, his club continuing its arc around the room. Pansy ducked, thankful that she'd missed the oncoming blunt object, but had forgotten about the troll's ability to perform wandless magic. A mere second after ducking the club, Pansy was hit with the Cruciatus Curse. She fell to her knees, a pain-wracked sob tearing from her throat. She struggled against the curse, forcing herself to get past the pain and lift her wand. Tharr growled when he saw her arm rising and did thought another Cruciatus Curse, swinging his club at Pansy when she was too preoccupied with the pain to notice. His club never hit the target, and Tharr blinked slowly on realising that a sword was sticking through his torso. The sword was ripped out and he fell to the ground, his head falling off his neck with a wet thunk. Behind his fallen body, Griselda was leaning against the wall, her chest heaving in exertion, a bloody sword in her trembling hands and tears running down her cheeks.

Pansy struggled to her feet, the suddenness of the Cruciatus Curse leaving her almost as painful as the Unforgivable itself. She moved around Tharr's large body to take the sword from Griselda carefully. Blood was starting to seep from the wounds on the Princess' body, Pansy's spell not quite complete, and she started to patch them up again.

"Help Gregory; I'm fine," Griselda said, her voice trembling as much as her hands.

Pansy nodded and hurried over to Gregory, checking for a pulse as she tried to remember the spell to heal head wounds. His pulse was there, but it was slowing. She couldn't remember the spell and asked Theodore, trying to keep her anxiety out of her voice.

How serious is the wound? Theodore asked. On hearing her answer, he went silent which, in Pansy's opinion, was worse than anything else he could have done. I'll be right there. Just tell me where there is?

No time. I'll come get you instead. Are you at St. Mungo's?

No, but I can be in thirty seconds.

"Griselda, can you watch over Gregory for a moment? I'm going to get our friend; he's a healer. I can't heal Gregory, not with a head wound like this."

"Of course; go," she replied with a nod, her hand pressing against the wound on her stomach.

Pansy Disapparated, and in less than a minute, had returned with Theodore. He saw the blood seeping between Griselda's fingers and told Pansy another healing spell that would repair any internal bleeding. Then, without another word, he started working on Gregory. Pansy thanked him and went over to Griselda, healing her as Theodore had instructed.

... b ...

Millicent got out of the bath, her body aching and stinging. It seemed that the soap bubbles irritated the wounds she'd received, and Millicent was acutely aware of how many there had been. What she'd thought had only been a scratch or bruise turned out to be much more than that, and she was now very thankful that Theodore had stopped the fight before anything else had happened.

"Are you hearing all of this, Mill?" Theodore asked from the bedroom, referring to the thoughts their friends were inadvertently sending.

"Yeah, I am. I really hope Lettie's all right. Miles must want to kill everyone involved if his thoughts are anything like Ginevra's ones," she murmured, drying herself off and heading into the bedroom.

Despite their earlier intentions, Theodore and Millicent couldn't bring themselves to do anything more than cuddle on the bed, trying not to think of what their friends were going through and how they were useless to do anything.

Are you sure we can't help, Luna? Theodore asked for what could have been the hundredth time that hour.

I am positive. Please stop asking so frequently; I promise that you will be called when you are really needed. If you come now, you'll exhaust yourself before you're required, Luna replied. You might want to listen to Pansy now; you'll be needed there sooner rather than later.

Theodore frowned when Pansy called out to him a moment later, asking how to heal a head wound. How serious is the wound?

I don't know, Greg's been hit twice with a club. He's losing a lot of blood, and his pulse is getting slower. What do I do?

Theodore sat up immediately, pulling on a pair of pants and a shirt.

"Theo? What's wrong?" Millicent asked.

"Pansy and Greg need my help; I've got to go," he replied, leaning over to give her a quick kiss goodbye.

I'll be right there. Just tell me where there is? Theodore asked, realising he didn't know where the troll camp was.

No time. I'll come get you instead. Are you at St. Mungo's?

No, but I can be in thirty seconds, Theodore replied, Apparating immediately.

Pansy arrived outside St. Mungo's at the same time he did, and he barely had time to take in her pale features and the large cut on her arm that she didn't seem to realise before she took his arm and Side-Apparated him to the troll camp. A large female troll was leaning against the wall by the window, thick trails of blood seeping between her fingers from a hastily patched wound on her stomach. She was standing over an even larger troll whose head seemed to be a few metres away from the rest of his body, and Theodore wasn't entirely sure he wanted to know what had happened here. He quickly told Pansy how to heal the stomach wound as well as any internal bleeding, discreetly healing the wound on Pansy's arm at the same time. He turned and set to work on Gregory, lessening the swelling around his brain and healing the wound on his head carefully.

Theodore was surprised that Gregory was still alive after a head trauma like the one he had; it was almost as though something - or someone - else was keeping him alive. He just hoped that whatever it was would be able to hold on long enough for his spells to work.

... b ...

Night fell at Hogwarts, and when the search plans and plans of attack had been agreed upon and organised, people began to leave the Great Hall and head to their allocated areas to sleep for the night. The vampires went down into the dungeons and into the Slytherin House to sleep, to ensure that they wouldn't be subjected to the sun. The Veelas had agreed on sleeping in the Ravenclaw Tower, with the windows left open for them to fly out of when they wanted.

Neville, Seamus and Blaise went to their house, Luna looking pleased that they'd decided on settling in the previously-forgotten world. Niryal flew ahead of them with Neville's permission, wanting to get into her attic before they could do anything to - or in - it.

In their room, Ginevra and Draco were both still wide awake, despite their earlier exhaustion. They listened quietly as the last of the residents and visitors went to sleep, and then set about strengthening the silencing spells in their room. Breathing deeply, Ginevra reached out for Lettie in her mind, yet again coming up with nothing at all. She closed her eyes tightly and squeezed Draco's hand, letting out her breath between trembling lips.

It'll be all right, love. We'll find Lettie, Draco promised, though he didn't sound certain as to whether they'd find her whole or in pieces.

I know we will, Ginevra replied softly, wrapping her arm around him and curling up beside him.

Draco held her as the day's events finally caught up with Ginevra, stroking her hair as she cried, and swearing revenge for every tear that fell. He was going to kill Voldemort and Virginia for this.

... b ...

Wednesday, July 24

Miles knocked on Ginevra and Draco's door softly, unable to hear whether they were awake or not through their spells. The door opened soundlessly a moment later, so he figured that they were awake, despite the early hour of the morning. He stepped inside the room and closed the door behind him. On turning around, Miles was surprised to see both Ginevra and Draco dressed in what could only be described as battle-gear. Ginevra's white fighting outfit seemed to be painted onto her, her boots held no less than three daggers, and she was sheathing an inscribed dagger at her waist by her wand, with a sword on the other hip. Draco was dressed in black, and was placing two daggers in his sleeves, his wand and sword already by his side. His long hair was plaited back so it wouldn't be in the way, and it looked as though it wrapped around his waist too.

"I thought you were both on the searching party?" Miles asked.

"We are; it doesn't mean we can't become the attacking team if the situation calls for it," Draco drawled.

Miles recognised the promise that his eyes held, even if Draco's tone and words didn't portray them.

"You came to ask us for something?" Ginevra prompted, grabbing her hair in a rough ponytail and offering it to Draco.

Miles nodded, his eyes barely able to keep up with the speed that Draco's fingers worked on her hair. "As you're both on different teams to me and each other, I would like you to inform me the moment you find Lettie. If you do find her," he added.

"How do you propose we do that?" Ginevra asked curiously.

"If I share blood with you now, it should create a temporary connection. As you and Draco are already connected, then he can inform you, and you can then inform me immediately."

"How did you know we're connected?" Draco asked, frowning.

"Lettie told me," he replied. "Please, I do not want to be the last to know, and I can tell from my parents' behaviours that they are planning to do exactly that. They're worried about what I will do, but I refuse to let Voldemort and Virginia get away with what they have done."

Ginevra and Draco shared a glance, and he gave a minute nod. Ginevra stepped forward and offered her wrist to Miles.

"Sorry, Ginevra, but it has to be closer to the heart," Miles said apologetically. "The throat should be fine," he added at Draco's low growl.

She felt a bit self-conscious at baring her neck like this. The only person - other than Agnes and Virginia during her Blooding Ceremony - who had Drank from her neck was Draco, and Ginevra had come to associate the action with him. But she knew what Miles was suggesting would be the best for all concerned - if he found Lettie first, then he could tell her. Miles wasn't the only one who had a score to settle with Voldemort and Virginia for this. She swallowed and moved her head to the side, baring her neck. Miles gave them a single nod of thanks and respect, then moved forward in a blur of motion, and sank his fangs into her neck.

... b ...

Gregory woke up with a groan, his head pounding and his vision swimming.

"Don't move just yet. You've had a severe trauma to the head. Well, two, actually," Theodore murmured, holding Gregory down gently. "Can you tell me your name?"

"Gregory Goyle."

"Day of the week?"

"Come on, Theo, I don't know that at the best of times," Gregory muttered, grinning slightly. "Oh, fine. Tuesday? Or at least, it was when I got smacked around by Tharr. Gods', Tharr. Is Pansy all right? What happened to him? He didn't hurt Pans, did he?" he asked, trying to sit up unsuccessfully.

Theodore had learnt his lesson from when Pansy had gone missing and had bound Gregory to the bed to keep him from leaving.

"She's fine. Griselda decapitated Tharr before he could do anything else."

"Anything else?" Gregory echoed. "What did he do?" he asked, his voice little more than a growl.

Theodore was silent for a moment, looking at the bars hovering above Gregory's head. He gave a heavy sigh and finally answered, "He hit Pansy with the Cruciatus Curse. Twice."

"Is she all right?"

"I'm fine, Greg," Pansy said from the doorway.

She walked over to him and gave a small smile, her hand stroking his face gently.

It's good to see you awake, Greg.

Good to be awake, he said with a grin.

"Can you stand back so I can take the binds off, please Pansy?" Theodore asked.

Pansy nodded and stepped back quickly. Theodore removed the binds with a flick of his wand and helped Gregory sit up carefully, checking his eyesight.

Gregory frowned slightly as Theodore shone his lit wand into and away from his eyes. "Hey, Pans? Where's Vince?"

... b ...

End of the thirty-fifth chapter.

Thank you for reading, I hope you liked it.