Yep, I know it's been a while....but it's been hell... Someone dies...You've been warned. As usual, thanks to Lady Starlight for her work on this chapter.
Chapter 42: Catch a Tiger by the Tail
******************************Room of Requirement************************
May 23, 2016
5:45 pm
It was only though endless guile, skill and persistence-along with more than a bit of learned experience-that Sirius was able to secure the Room of Requirement from all comers so he could review for his imminently upcoming OWLs. Even though, not that he would ever admit to himself, he could have probably taken them the year before.
A dozen books were scattered across a pair of conjured tables and were, in turn, at least half covered by stacks of parchments, notebooks and a few recording crystals. He yawned loudly, and shook his head firmly as his eyelids started to droop, he had been up almost the entire night before.
Natasha hooted from a perch next to a window that could not exist, as the room was deep within the castle, and he looked over, letting out a quiet whistle. A flurry of wings dropped the grey owl onto the table in front of him, and he brushed his hands over the owl's head feathers. She blinked large eyes back at him, as if asking him, Are you alright, Sirius?
He smiled and kissed the top of her head, "I'm fine, girl. Why don't you go get something to eat; I'll be fine here."
Natasha looked at him rather dubiously-at least as much so as an owl with rather limited facial expressions could-before she hooted once and took flight, swooping out an illusory window that opened and closed as she passed.
Sirius watched the window closed before he returned to his studies, dragging out the sheaf of notes that he had taken in the fairer Professor Weasley's class since her assumption of the Transfiguration Professorship. Sitting back, he rubbed his eyes and before starting to study once more, delving into the intricacies of golem mobilization.
At times, it seemed that only he was worried about studies, at least when he had left Gryffindor tower earlier after escaping class for the day. Emilia was closeted, somewhere, with Xander celebrating her birthday, even though there was supposed to be a surprise party later this evening for her. Likewise, the rest of his year mates had 'given up' on their studies, as the exams were a whole week away after all. Yawning again, he slowly started to read, his eyes drooping as he let them fall over the dry text of the textbook, written in prose that had been rather dated in Shakespeare's time.
Out in the hallway, Harriet appeared from behind a long, dusty tapestry and paced down the same hall that generations of Hogwarts students, at least those in the know, had used to approach the infamous Come and Go Room. Trainers making quiet scuffing sounds on the flagstones as she skipped down the seventh floor hallway, she bounced to a halt opposite the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy, who as was often the case, hiding from a pair of rather surly-looking trolls in tutus.
A faint scowl fell over her lips as she found no door waiting her, and she started to pace, moving up and down the hallway with only one, slightly salacious, thought in her head. A quiet giggle escaped as a heavy oak door appeared, and a small pink tongue came out to run along barely open lips.
Pulling open the door, she stepped into a softly lit room, with a large, heatless fire roaring in one corner, a long couch facing it, and a pair of worktables filled with disordered study materials. A single chair was pulled up to one, facing away from the door, with a head of disheveled, black hair sticking up just over the back. Harriet bit off another giggle as she toed off her trainers, bright red ones with silver laces to match her eyes, before she padded over on bare feet, tiptoeing to slip up behind him.
She pouted faintly as he did not move as she crept up to his shoulder, even though she had wanted to surprise him. Her fingers ghosted along his shoulder, and beyond a faint mutter and a slight movement to her touch, he did not react. Stepping around his chair, grey eyes flicked heavenward as she found his eyes closed and his breathing slow and steady.
That just doesn't do, she mused, taking a step back and drawing her wand from the sheath riding her leg, as she pulled her uniform shirt free from her skirt with the other hand. Her tie fluttered to the floor as she pulled it free and unbuttoned the top three buttons of her blouse, He's not supposed to sleep without me...
A flick of her wand and Sirius slowly lifted into the air, the chair he was sitting in scooted back of its own accord, and he floated upright, following her as she stalked over to the couch and stretched out on it, lining the very edge of the couch. Another practiced wand movement, and he settled down between her and the back of the couch, muttering quietly in his sleep as she dropped her wand to the floor next to the couch and cuddled against him tightly, pressing him back against the back of the couch.
Her own eyes fell closed as she worked her leg between his, and took his hand in hers, pulling it between them until his fingers rested on a stomach bared by her movements. A warm sensation spread from the contact, filling her and she scooted up slightly, and pulled his head down to her chest. I guess this works, she sighed, I suppose that a nap before Em's party will work alright...I was hoping for a shag though...But this is a bit of alright too.
Sirius' half-slumbering thoughts turned to her, wrapping with hers warmly. She started to pick her fingers through his hair, brushing strands from side to side as she luxuriated in the warmth of his breath on her skin, and the safety the feeling induced by his closeness-setting aside, for the moment, the darkness that she could feel slowly enclosing them all with each breath. Fleeting bits of half-formed thoughts and dreams danced across his mind, behind the strong gates of his magic that only she had a key to. She smiled to herself as she watched a dream version of herself slumbering next to a fully awake Sirius, her hair spread over his lap as she napped under the beech next to the lake.
The image of the idyllic lake with her still asleep on his lap faded away slowly, to reveal her slowly walking towards him, her hair shimmering gold in the light of an unseen fire. Harriet's own pulse spiked as she felt his reaction to her, the image slowly panning down, following her as she walked across his vision to slowly fall to her knees on a white fur throw set on dark hardwood.
In an instant, she was herself in his mind, or rather more accurately, the part of her consciousness that was always with him joined with the rest of her and she was looking back up at him from her vantage point on the floor. Grey eyes went smoky and slowly brightened as a rush of magic filled her. Stretching out like her feline alter ego on all fours, she crawled fully onto the rug and slowly laid down, propping her head up on one elbow as she looked over at him.
Sirius swallowed heavily, his eyes falling down over her body, taking in the black, nearly non-existent knickers and bra that served more as decorations than any form of covering. He swallowed again as she licked her lips, catlike, and slowly fell to his knees next to her. A quiet purr escaped as she leaned into the hand that he brought up to cup her cheek.
"I love you, Harriet," he whispered, and she only nodded silently as his thumb stroked her cheek.
"I know," she smiled and rolled fully onto her side, and reached up to grab the tie of his uniform shirt that he was inexplicitly wearing, and pull him to her. A quiet shared sigh of breath passed between them before she flicked her tongue against his as she rolled onto her back, pulling him down on top of her.
Fingers flashed, removing his tie with practiced ease and pulling it off and to the side before she started to unbutton his shirt. Harriet rolled them over again, and sat up on his stomach, ignoring the hard bulge poking her nearly bare bum. She curled back down on herself, pressing her lips to each patch of revealed skin as she slowly undid each button in turn.
As she reached his stomach, Sirius stretched down and grabbed her hands, stopping her before she could proceed further. He reached down and grabbed her hips and lifted her off him, setting her back on her folded knees next to him.
Harriet's eyes dropped and grew more silvered as she swallowed heavily.
"It's not that, Harriet," he whispered as rose up on his knees next to her, reaching up with his left hand to pet through reddish gold strands, "I just want to ask you something before...we get too involved..."
A shaking hand flicked through a complicated motion at his side. A flare of light sparkled and vanished, leaving nothing. "Damn it," he groaned, "I practiced that..."
Harriet's eyes widened as she realized both, suddenly, though if it was glimpse of the future or her simply knowing him she neither knew nor cared. She leaned up and kissed him, "Yes, my love," she breathed against his lips. A flare of uncalled magic lit the room and faded to reveal a worked platinum band set on her left ring finger. A shimmering, infinitely faceted stone was cut so as to almost be part of the band, with a thousand shades dancing through it, pulling in on themselves infinitely in a contained fall of color.
"Thank you," he whispered back, his voice strained and tight as he fought to keep from crying in sheer relief.
Harriet nodded as she finished unbuttoning his shirt and pushed it from his shoulders to fall to the ground behind them. "I really need you, Sirius," she muttered "I mean," she let her fingers press against his stomach, vibrating slightly against his skin, "I really, really, do."
"Alright."
Smiling like a kid on Christmas, she reached back to untab her bra, shrugging out of it, before she leaned forward to kiss him again, pressing her skin to his. Magic grew visible, sparkling around them. Harriet gasped quietly as he lowered his lips to an already straining nipple and brushed it with the tip of his tongue.
"Oh Merlin," a choked gasp, "Again...please."
He obliged, slowly trailing his lips down her chest and down between her breasts. Her eyes fluttered closed as he slowly laid her back onto the fur, never breaking contact with her stomach. Fingers trailed down her flanks, tracing the lines of her ribs, before pausing on the thin strands riding her hipbones. He pulled back, admiring the contrast of her pale skin with the fabric, before starting to pull the garment from her hips. She arched up automatically, quivering slightly as his fingers trailed down to her feet, before he kissed his way back up her, mouth, laughing quietly as she pushed him over impatiently, and dropping her hands to the button of his trousers.
Small fingers made quick work of the fastener, and tugged on his trousers, taking them and his boxers along with them, down and off his legs.
A quiet moan followed as she wrapped her fingers along him, and started to pass her hand up and down, navigating purely by the sounds that he started to let slip. Impatiently, Sirius started to buck up into her hand, only to be stopped as she pressed their bodies back together, trapping him against her stomach with the fingers of her hand still stroking the best she could manage.
"I...uhh..." he gasped, only to groan in frustration as she suddenly stopped and rolled off him, "What..." He froze as she stretched out on the fur next to him, and brought her knees up as she let them fall apart, and looked up between them at him.
"I think we need to practice, Sirius," she said huskily as she lifted up on her elbows, beckoning with one finger as the other hand slid down between her legs. Her fingers moved slowly, drawing his eye and sending his heart racing. He just nodded, and she slowly brought the fingers of the hand that had been performing for him to her lips.
As if the act were a signal, he seemed to Apparate across the short distance between them, to crawl over her, further spreading her knees with his hips.
The world seemed to waver for an instant, and she suddenly found herself back out of her own body, looking through another's eyes. The room she suddenly found herself in was vast, and almost unrecognizable for an instant. Slowly, she picked out utterly familiar details. The flying buttresses crossing the ceiling above her head were dark, aged wood against a slowly moving crystal blue sky. Rows and rows of carved wood benches padded in red and gold stretched back towards a pair of giant, carved doors that were currently closed.
She let her eyes flick to the side, finding her mother sitting next to Hermione in the front row of the pews. Empty spots were next to them, along with a black-haired woman that Harriet had never met, but whom seemed very, very familiar. Her eyes flicked to the side, finding Xander standing near her along with Justin more or less behind him.
The doors opened and she felt a rush of heat, and her vision wavered as distantly heard music filled her ears. She watched as Harry bent close to Emilia, said something to her and she laughed before he kissed her cheek. He turned to the side and grabbed Ron's arm, who nodded and the pair vanished, only to reappear silently in the front pew next to their wives.
Harriet swallowed heavily, as she found herself looking back from across the length of the Great Hall at Hogwarts, her hair grown nearly halfway down her back and twisted into loose curls, a red-haired version of the woman at her side. A small emerald hung in the center of her forehead from a silvery circlet, similar to the familial jewelry that both Emilia and Rain were wearing.
From across the vast room, Harriet met her own eyes and a soft grin replied silently, as if the other girl was looking across time and space and finding her there. The world suddenly swirled as she were on a mad portkey trip, and vanished in rush of sound and a fall of color.
Harriet gasped as she woke up slowly, and clung more tightly to Sirius, holding him to her as her chest continued to heave. She started to stroke Sirius' sweaty hair, almost as much so as if they had truly done in reality as what she had just shared with him in his...their minds. Emilia had told her that it was possible, but until then, she had not internalized the concept. For once, her thoughts were crystal-clear, untouched by the possibilities that could be for she saw only the one that would be, at least to her mind.
Yes, Sirius, I will marry you, she whispered and watched him smile, still fast asleep though he made a small, happy sound. A sudden, hyper-realistic vision, filled her mind, her eyes going unfocused as she watched herself walking down the aisle of some vast hall, her two 'sisters' at her side and all three of them dressed in white, if slightly different.
She caught sight of the possible future version of herself in some reflective surface, her silver-grey eyes peering back from between two artfully loose red tendrils that hung down on either side to frame her face. A silver or platinum circlet crowned her head in lieu of the veil that none of the three girls were wearing, and it in turn supported a diamond teardrop that hung in the center of her forehead.
The image blew herself a kiss and the vision faded, leaving Harriet still laying in Sirius' arms on the couch. Reaching down and back, she summoned her wand from the floor, and flicked it towards the couch, freezing the cushion so as not to disturb him.
Brushing her fingers through his hair once more, she muttered a spell to dispense with the more physical remains of their fantasy, and then conjured a short note, telling him that she would see him at Emilia and Anna's party. She continued to smile, even as she slowly drifted towards the door, already dreaming ahead to tonight after the party, He really does read my mind, she smirked, I just bought that set...I wonder if he will like them better in real life.
7:20 pm
Hermione smirked as she watched Harry's eyes track her as she padded down the stairs from the upper floor to the living room of the Godric's Hollow house. She fought to keep a girlish giggle from slipping out as Harry's eyes dropped as if under a spell to trace up her legs, and she felt his appreciation of the mid-thigh-length black skirt and calf-high boots under a button-up red sweater, with a tiny gap showing at her waist as she moved. That tiny triangle of skin was seemingly there only to point his gaze up towards the much larger vee that pointed downward, courtesy of the top three unbuttoned buttons.
Wait until you see what Luna is wearing, Hermione breathed as she leaned up to kiss him, before taking a step past him to gather a robe from the back of the couch. Harry took it from her, and held it out for her to slip her arms into the sleeves before he pulled her back into him and started to fasten the clasps in front.
Yeah...but it's your outfit that will be on the library floor tonight...
She looked back over her shoulder at him to share a quick grin as he ran his hands along the sides of the tailored garment, one much more form-fitting than anything she had ever worn in the first five or six years of her life in the Wizarding world. Turning around in his arms, she let her fingers play over the tri-part crest on her left breast, that of Gryffindor, Potter and Black, before she let her hands fall to his. "We really should be going, Harry," she said softly, as her thumbs stroked the backs of his hands.
He half-smiled, "Yeah...responsibility and all that lot."
"Later, baby," she promised huskily, and they vanished without a sound.
The ornate vestibule of Black Manor appeared around them, and Harry looked down at her slightly accusingly, Damn it, Mione, he whispered hoarsely, as his mouth was suddenly as dry as a desert at high noon at the images she had sent along just as they leapt out.
She grinned and froze, biting back a response as one of Draco and Ginny's house elves appeared, his small green and silver house uniform immaculate except for a tiny Foundation for Interspecies Tolerance lapel pin. "Hello, Snappy," Hermione said instead, smiling down at the elf who had been in Draco's employ for almost the last ten years.
He nodded to her, "Lady Black, Lord Black-Master Draco and Madame Ginny will dine with you in the small dining parlor, along with Master Weasley and Madame Luna who arrived just a moment before. Please follow me," the elf turned and headed for the hallway as Harry and Hermione shared a slightly pained look at the formality.
Taking his hand, Hermione squeezed it and let Harry lead them in pursuit of the elf, following along silently along the inlaid floors of the opulent mansion. A door opened at the elf's wave and Harry and Hermione stepped through a carved oak door inlaid with scenes of notable ancient Wizarding events into a relatively small room, dominated by a oval table set for six.
Luna was already seated along the side of the table, next to Ron, who was leaning back precariously in his chair and sipping from a nearly full tumbler of Old Ogden's. As Hermione had predicted, Luna was dressed much as she was, though the skirt that covered her legs seemed to be composed of...mist...that more or less only showed the shape of her thighs. A soft, yellow jumper completed the outfit, one that tightly hugged her torso, and Harry glanced past his long-acknowledged sister, to share a long-suffering look with Ron.
Ron just shrugged and took a sip of his whiskey, before Harry looked past him, to watch as Draco and Ginny walked in. Long experience allowed him to keep his face pleasant as he found Draco in finery that would have been more suited to his dead father, than the man he had become.
Draco nodded to them, as Hermione handed off her outer robe to the elf; who vanished with a soft pop, and waved them to a seat. "Now that we are all here," Draco grinned wryly, "let's tuck in."
Harry shared an inquisitive thought with his wife as he pulled out her chair for her, before taking his own seat at the end of the table opposite where Draco was settling. Another elf, one of the several that Draco employed, appeared at Harry's elbow and poured a rather fragrant Burgundy into crystal goblets set at each place with the Black family crest cut into them.
Snappy dismissed the wine server and gestured towards the table as individual covered plates floated over, and deposited themselves in front of each dinner. A steaming basket of a dark bread popped in as the covers vanished to reveal a salad with at least four different types of lettuce, and Hermione smiled faintly as she smelled the Pronger Cheese dressing.
Grey eyes slowly traced over the guests as Harry took a small sip of the wine. Ron followed more forcefully, drinking at least half of a glass, and Draco flicked his eyes over to brown ones that held an expression that he could not quite place, not even after nearly twenty years of marriage, and almost seven years of enmity before that. He turned back to his guests, noting that neither Luna nor Hermione had touched their wine. "Is something wrong with your glass?" he asked, his face concerned. "It is from the family vineyards in Burgundy, I find it rather pleasant myself, I had hoped that you would like it."
Hermione shared a flicker of a glance with Luna, before Luna turned back to their guests even as a sudden flicker of understanding crossed Ginny's face. She looked down at her salad quickly and then over at Draco as he took a deep draft of his own wine and started to reply.
He took a breath and his hand shook, as he started to stand. The goblet spun from suddenly-numb fingers, and he half-collapsed to the table, his spayed hands on the wine-stained white table linen suddenly barely able to support him. "Wha..." he croaked as every guest leapt to his or her feet.
Harry dodged around the chair and charged towards Draco, only to be flung back as a shimmering blue field appeared, bisecting the room in front of the Draco and Ginny's place settings and cutting off the guests from the hosts. "Ginny," he snapped, "what..."
Ginny took a step back from the defensive ward, and pulled Draco into her arms. She staggered backwards under his weight, until her back hit a wainscoted wall. Her elbow hit a small pedestal-like table sending a crystal vase filled with wildflowers crashing to the floor, she swallowed and slid to the floor, still cradling Draco to her. Her wand filled her hand a moment later and pointed shakily towards the blue field, "S...stay back..."
Hermione's eyes flicked to the side as the world suddenly slowed and her and Harry's eyes lit. Suddenly the shimmering blue field was a dozen different shades, the establishing and sustaining runes glowing in soft purple just at the corners of her sight, Harry...
I can break them...he whispered, even as she felt him drawing on the magic in the ether, pulling it to him, but those are...old, Hermione, but the backlash will kill them, you could shield us on this side.
The conversation, which had only taken perhaps a half a heartbeat of real time, fell silent as wands appeared in their hands, and Hermione continued to gently probe at the wards, looking for a miniscule gap to creep her or Harry through her, or even a finger of power. But after another few milliseconds search, no hole was found. Instead Hermione forced her self to talk slowly, the words, at least to her seeming to drag like molasses on a winter's day. To every other ear except Harry's they sounded rather quick and clipped, "What's going on, Ginny?" she asked gently.
Draco coughed once and shuddered under Ginny's arms, he crept his head back to look her in the eyes, "Ginny..."
"I...I'm sorry, Draco," she whispered, ignoring the others, "I...I had to..." she ran her fingers though his hair, before she bent down and kissed him, collecting a tiny speck of bright lung blood on her lips. "F...forgive me."
"I do..." he croaked and his voice fell away as he went limp in Ginny's arms. The ward flickered and reestablished, just before one of the Potters could leap forward.
Ginny's looked back to the rest of them, "It was Snape," she murmured, just loud enough to carry to their ears, "he poisoned us..."
"Ginny," Hermione moved right up to the ward only to be bounced back harshly, Ron caught her and steadied her, "we can..."
"It's too late, Hermione," Ginny smiled regretfully, "Draco was holding out hope that Snape's counter that was supposed to be delivered to us could cure us...I was already too far gone, I guess Snape was aiming for someone a tad bigger when he poisoned us...Never say Weasleys don't pay their debts, Harry. Accio goblet," she muttered and her previously untouched glass shot to her hand and she downed it in one quick draw. "Take care of my babies, Hermione," she groaned and slumped across Draco's body.
The goblet and her wand tumbled from her hands, the former shattering into a thousand pieces, just before the ward flashed once and collapsed with a loud sound like a bed sheet being ripped in half.
Both Harry and Hermione were across the room within the next breath, each taking one of the Blacks and slipping them to the ground. Hermione probed at Ginny's neck, "Fuck," she started chest compressions and vanished the stain of poisoned wine from the redhead's lips with a flicker of power, counting to thirty before she gave her a pair of deep breaths. She started again, distantly hearing Ron calling a St. Mungo's team over the floo, and Harry working at her back, trying to revive Draco. Harry rolled back on his heels and a pulse of lightning lit the room as he fired the voltage directly across Draco's heart.
A small hand grabbed Hermione's wrists, and she looked up to find Luna kneeling on Ginny's other side. Her eyes shimmered in the light from the lamps scattered around the room, "They're gone, Hermione."
"But..."
Luna shook her head, "They are gone. I am sorry. It's too late; their souls are gone."
A moment later, four mediwizards from St. Mungo's rushed in, having had to Apparate to the arrival zone in another part of the house and rushed to Draco and Ginny, pushing aside the Potters in their rush to treat the injured.
Hermione's lower lip was trembling in the grip of her teeth as she spun to Harry and buried her face into his chest. He started to idly stroke her hair as she cried quietly into his shirt, his eyes meeting Ron's over Luna's head as she emulated her sister.
"They're gone, Jim," Harry heard a roughened voice mutter after another two minutes and he looked to the medics as they sighed and sat back on their heels, breathing heavily.
The one who had spoken, a medium-height wizard with weathered features and salt and pepper close-cropped hair, looked at Harry and then to his partners, "Time of death on her," he consulted something on a floating clipboard at his side, "seven forty five, twenty third of May...he expired about a minute before." He looked back to Harry, "Sir, we should get them to St. Mungo's..."
"No," Hermione replied as she turned from Harry. She wiped at her eyes as she took a breath, and her hands steadied as she held her hand out, palm first, and a gold badge swirled into existence, "This is a crime scene, the Ministry will handle it. Please, if you can leave your credentials, some of my investigators may be calling on you."
Harry stepped to the side, and reached into a pocket and withdrew his mirror. He fingered the scarred surface, battered by untold hours banging around in his pocket along with keys, loose coins, a folder and other random debris of life. He flipped it open, and took a tired breath, "Wendell..."
The mirror swirled for a moment, until the Specialist's face filled it. From the background that Harry could see behind him, he was most likely in some restaurant. "Yeah, Harry, what do you need?"
"Sorry to bother you," Harry said automatically, even as his eyes tracked to the side, and glanced down to the now-covered bodies. He fought down the vague, endless cold that threatened to creep up from his belly, from where he had fought so long to keep it away, "I need you at Black Manor...with a full team."
"What is it, Harry?" the Forensic Head's voice slowly tightened.
"Just get here, Wendell."
May 23, 2016
7:45 pm
Harriet smiled faintly, as she spun along a bare dirt trail, following along the shoreline of the lake that she had loved, in one universe or another, for seventeen years. He said he wants to marry me, she thought breathlessly, and giggled aloud, as she danced down the path.
She fingered a small, heart-shaped charm hanging from the collar-like band around her neck, and watched as the late afternoon sun slipped through the trees, to sparkle on the silver. A soft, happy sound slipped free as she thought of just a few hours ago, of a shared dream that had fulfilled her existence. I wonder where I left my knickers last night, she mused as she watched a pure white squirrel scamper across the path.
A quick search in her pocket found a package of crackers, almost totally smashed, and she knelt on the grass next to a tall, old oak. She opened it and sprinkled the crumbs on the ground, petting the squirrel as it came up to her without a trace of fear and started to snack on the offering.
It chattered up at her after the food was gone, or at least stuffed away in bulging cheeks and scampered into the woods.
She stood and straightened her skirt, reaching out with her mind to caress another napping one, almost a mile away and a hundred feet up. Harriet giggled again, as she felt him reach back for her, his mind unconsciously slipping into hers and slipping down into her core.
Her breath hitched, her legs wobbling slightly as a finger of heat touched her core, before relaxing back as Sirius fell fully back to sleep. He had been rather tired when she left him several minutes before, tucked away in the secured to anyone else, Room of Requirement. Which she had secured from anyone else, by the simple expedient of wishing it so.
She gnawed her lip for a moment, looking back towards the castle, her eyes tracking along a line that led invisibly towards Sirius. Did I put the wards up for Sirius? He always forgets and then I have to be on the lookout for blue kildars, and he'll probably need new socks. Harriet shook her head resignedly, as she retraced her steps, her pace unconsciously quickening as she got closer and closer to the castle.
Her shoes skidded on a patch of loose gravel at the head of the trail, as something ordered her to duck.
A jet of red light whipped through where her head had been a microsecond before, and splashed against a tree. Her wand filled her hand, as a half dozen sixth and seventh years in green and silver appeared. "Where's little Potty?" Maraisah's snide voice asked from behind a pair of burly seventh years. "He get tired of you?" she pouted, "Did he leave the little Weaselette cause she wouldn't open his legs for him?"
Harriet scowled, but did not bother to correct them, only tightening her grip on her wand as she reached out with her thoughts. She felt Sirius stir, fighting up from the mild Sleeping Draught she had fed him before leaving him, after she had plucked from his mind that he had not slept properly for the last couple of nights, because of studying for his OWLs.
"What do you think, Naomi?" Maraisah added as she glanced back to watch as the brunette Ravenclaw walked around from behind a tree, bouncing a small, glowing orb in one hand.
Harriet looked around, watching for a hole, but unlike her previous encounter, alone with the Slytherins, none dared approach her close enough for a strike. SIRIUS, she yelled, and she felt him slowly push himself awake, fighting off the draught through an effort of pure will.
He started towards her even before he was fully awake, sprinting, but he was far, too far away.
The orb in Naomi's hand was subtly...wrong, as if it were not quite there.
With a flash of recognition, Harriet realized what it was.
Naomi smirked, and walked to Harriet. The Slytherins covered the Gryffindor, "It would have been simple, you could have just left him alone...but no. You just had to try to take him from me, now you'll be dead, and He will reward me for your head." Naomi let the orb roll from her fingers to drop at Harriet's feet.
Her empty hand came up and patted Harriet's cheek, before her fingers trailed down Harriet's chest, tracing lightly down the line of buttons, "I even would have been willing to share him, but I suppose that I will have to just accept Sirius as a pet after He strips him of his power."
Naomi turned her back and started back.
Harriet dove to the side, and her wand bucked twice, sending Slytherins tumbling to the ground. Four Stunners ripped back and a tiny part of Harriet's mind noted the non-lethal attack. She rolled to the side as a Reductor exploded the ground at her feet.
"FOOL," Maraisah screamed, and a ringing slap cracked across the field. "We need her alive."
Harriet grinned darkly as she sheltered behind a huge oak, readying her wand, and wishing that she had a full combat kit, or better yet, a combat suit from one of her uncles, like the one that sat in the bottom of her trunk. She poked her head around the trunk and pulled it back just as fast as three Stunners hit the trunk. I just have to hold out until Sirius gets here...
A rush of wind swirled next to the abandoned Orb and Harriet's stomach dropped away into a bottomless pit as she knew Sirius wouldn't arrive in time. A dozen, dark, cloaked figures appeared, as the Portkey homing beacon did its job, allowing the Portkey to home in on them, even with the Hogwarts wards in place. She took a breath, started to stand, idly cursing the founders for keeping her from Apparating away, and the tree vanished behind her.
She rolled to the side, already spinning, and crumpled to the ground as a wide fan of red picked her up and tossed her back ten feet.
A tall, cloaked figure strode forward and flicked his wand, lifting her unconscious body to chest height. He laughed, and looked to Maraisah, his face still hidden by the hood. "Excellent," he said in a high, hissing voice. Long fingers reached out and traced along the exposed v of lightly tanned skin at Harriet's neck, and a dark chuckle emanated from under the hood. "Excellent." He looked around at his young disciplines, along with the newly arrived Death Eaters, "Let us leave, the hour approaches."
He held up his free hand and the orb shot to it, the Death Eaters young and old gathered round...and they all vanished in a rush of wind and a fall of rainbow light.
Barely one minute later, Sirius sprinted into the clearing in a blur, his wand in front of him in a two-handed grip and his eyes fully lit as he frantically scanned the area, having felt Harriet fall unconscious and then vanish from his perception.
His trainer scraped something on the ground, he glanced down, and froze, his hand trembling on the halt of his wand as he slowly knelt, his wand still pointed outwards and shakily picked up a carved shaft of purpleheart, the one and only wand he had ever seen made from that wood.
He slowly slipped the wand into the back of his pants, before turning on his heel, and vanishing into a run as he ran for the castle.
8:20 pm
Emilia moved at a sprint, her form almost vanishing in a blur as she chased after her brother, following the traces of power crackling along the bones of the castle like the lightning preceding a summer storm. A half dozen others trailed her, moving, individually at their best speeds as they ran in her wake.
A dirty white Kneazle, the familiar of the housekeeper, Alabaster Smityh, hissed as one of them, a tiny fifteen-year-old girl with entirely back eyes, and bright purple, spiked hair tripped over it and fell to a tumble. She turned, coming up to a knee and growled, the sound not one that ever came from a purely human throat.
The Kneazle ran, vanishing like was in a Muggle cartoon, and she glanced up, just in time to catch the hand that grabbed her on the run, pulling her to her feet and to his side.
Elliot did not say a word as he kept after Emilia, hurrying to catch up to her, and Xander and Rain, Anastasia, and the others, all of them running after one of their own, barely in control.
Elliot and Abby reached the seventh floor, and ran down the hall, Abigail holding back to stay with Elliot.
The Fat Lady hung open as they reached the entrance to Gryffindor Tower; she was sitting in a Portrait one over, watching fearfully as the last two came into the room.
Immediately, they both froze, staring at the tableau in the center of the room. Magic seemed to freeze them in place, shimmering in a faint field around the pair in the center of the room. Small first years ran, sprinting up the stairs leaving only the few who dared to remain. Abigail grabbed Elliot's hand, pulling him along the edge of the room, to stand next to Shin. Across from them, near the stairs leading up to the boys room, Rain, Xander, Nathan, Anastasia and Justin, the pair of Ravenclaws, having long since become almost Gryffindors in their own rights, watched with Rain physically holding Xander back from interfering as words and magic thundered across the room.
"We need to get hold of Mum and Dad," Emilia snapped, tendrils of her hair floating in an invisible breeze as she looked across the ten feet or so separating her from her brother. "We can't do this alone, Sirius, we just can't..."
"I tried, damnit, Em," he hissed back, his eyes fully lighting in the soft light of the room. "Don't you think I tried...Dumbledore is gone to London, I don't know where Neville is..."
"It's a trap, Sirius, if not for us then for Mum and Dad," she said quietly, carefully not approaching him.
"I DON"T CARE!" Sirius roared, magic sparkling along the edge of his fingers and glasses. His hands shot up to his head suddenly and he staggered. He looked up with terrified eyes, at her, "They have Harriet, Em...He's hurting her...I can feel it, she won't do what he wants..." he added softly, stepping back from her as she took a step forward.
"I...know, Sirius," she replied, "I know...but..."
"If it was Xander you wouldn't have even hesitated... Em, and you know it," he growled, and she blinked. She looked back towards Xander, and he nodded.
The very air in the room seemed to freeze, holding them all in place on the fork of a road whose diverging trails only led to danger or worse.
She looked back towards her brother, his smoldering eyes holding hers, "You're right, Sirius, I wouldn't have..." Walking towards him slowly, she reached out, touching his shoulder.
He did not resist as she pulled him to her, hugging him against her for a moment as the magic in the room faded back to the normal background roar of Hogwarts.
She let go and stepped back a pace, looking around the room, "Abby, Shin you are too young..."
"Sod off, Em," Abigail growled, her eyes becoming fully black again as she let her nature free. Beside her Shin nodded, and Emilia sighed.
"Rain..."
"You are kidding, right, Em?" Rain held her eyes as she flicked a wand and a moment later, a sheathed thin sword flitted down the stairs from her room and landed in her hand with a loud smack. "Where you go, I go, sis."
"Thank you," Sirius replied, his voice failing him for an instant. He looked at the others, at his family and those that might as well have been such, "Thank you..."
"Don't thank us yet, Sirius," Rain replied, looking around at them and then at Emilia, "Em..."
"Change and get your gear, people...the stuff that Fred and George give you for...emergencies," Emilia said, looking at each of them in turn and they vanished, pounding up their respective stairs, for trunks and wardrobes, for gear that their parents might have slipped in there, that they never, ever expected for their children to have to use.
A/N: I guess the die is cast.