~Chapter 1: The Warning~

"I have come to warn you Miss Rosier," whispered Tinsy, the candlelight flickering restlessly in her large, orbicular eyes. The elf seemed reluctant to elaborate, afraid of the consequences. She had undoubtedly overheard something that she wasn't supposed to repeat.

"About what?," prompted Adaire, perching on the edge of her bed. The little creature received her full attention.

"Tinsy can't say exactly, but Miss Rosier should miss breakfast tomorrow morning and instead hide somewhere safe".

"I can't miss breakfast, they check everyone's attendance every morning and I'll be marked as missing," frowned Adaire, " Anyway, why would breakfast not be safe? I suppose nothing is safe these days..."

"You must Miss, otherwise something very bad will happen to you," warned Tinsy.

"Like what?"

"Tinsy cannot say"

The elf was immovable on this point.

"Well, where should I hide?," asked Adaire finally, sensing that elf was keen to leave.

" The Room of Requirement," replied Tinsy assuredly.

"But that room's common knowledge by now", Adaire pointed out.

"It's safe enough to hide in temporarily Miss, just until-", the elf broke off, shaking her head, refusing to divulge anything more.

"Until?"

"Tinsy must leave now, best of luck Miss Rosier," she said, touching Adaire's arm affectionately before disappearing with a small pop.

Adaire was in the dark about what exactly was occurring beyond Hogwart's walls, but she had ideas. Her brother was somewhere in Germany. Her father had been in hiding for a year now to avoid being recruited by Voldemort. Unlike some pureblood families, Adaire's family secretly rejected Voldemort's persecution of half bloods and muggleborns. As long as their views remained a secret and they stayed quietly on the edge of pureblood society, they would survive. However, if someone guessed the truth and denounced them as blood traitors, they would end up on Voldemort's hit list, and Adaire would bear the consequences. She could be dragged off at breakfast and never seen again. This was the first scenario that Adaire envisioned.

But Tinsy hadn't specified whether it was just Adaire that was in danger, or everyone that attended breakfast tomorrow morning. She leaned towards the latter. Tinsy was her Uncle's house elf, and therefore it was likely to be her Uncle that sent her. Her Uncle, who was in Voldemort's inner circle and knew his plans, had sent her a warning that would help her escape danger. If lots of people were in danger tomorrow, her escape could be overlooked, and her Uncle could remain inculpable for warning her. If the danger was meant just for her, then her escape from it would be obvious and would raise the question of who tipped her off. Everything would be traced back to her Uncle and he would be terminated immediately. She knew her Uncle would not take this risk, and therefore became certain that something big was going to happen at breakfast , something that affected everyone present. With many people involved, her absence could be overlooked. She felt uncomfortable of the thought that she might be saved while her classmates would suffer whatever the Carrows dealt out. But if she started pulling everyone out of breakfast, her Uncle's plan, that she be overlooked, wouldn't stand a chance. It helped that Beth and Rowan were gone already, as she knew that she would have had to save them.

She glanced around her silent dormitory. Beth's pyjamas were folded neatly on her pillow, the way she left them every morning, but they had been unused for several days now. Meanwhile, Rowan's things were strewn all over her bed, yet Adaire hadn't the heart to tidy them away. Malia, Adaire's third roommate, had moved her belongings to Terrence's dorm, leaving her quarter of the room startlingly bare. Terrence was Malia's boyfriend. Well not quite, but Malia assured Adaire that they were 'basically together'. Adaire was extremely skeptical about Terrence, not least because he was a deatheater, and although she longed to steer Malia away from him, she knew neither of them sufficiently to warrant voicing her concern.

Adaire sat still for a while, absorbed in her plans for her escape to the Room of Requirement. She could not venture there tonight, nor early in the morning, as it would undoubtedly set off the curfew alarm, which she hadn't the slightest idea how to disable. She doubted the spell was complex, but she had no access to the library and did not know offhand how to tackle it. She would have to access the Room of Requirement after Hogwarts had woken up, but before breakfast, leaving her with only a small window of opportunity. The 7th floor corridor in which the room was located was likely to have little footfall, particularly moments after the curfew was lifted at six in the morning. Her best bet was to leave the Slytherin common room just after six and make her way there directly, checking carefully the coast was clear before she conjured up the little door and disappeared into safety.

With this plan in mind, she changed into her pyjamas and slipped into bed, setting her alarm for five in the morning.

Adaire rose on time and immediately set about getting ready. By the time she had finished her morning routine she looked smart and presentable.

Her next thought was of food, as she didn't want to suffer for missing breakfast. She delved into her trunk and pulled out a packet of oatcakes she had taken from home. She ate them hungrily. One of the many changes in Hogwarts under the Carrows was that the food had become less plenteous. They were less generous than Dumbledore had been, and they had done away with feasts: feasts were seen as an overindulgence. There were no treats, no celebrations, no music, no laughter. Life at Hogwarts had become bleak and hopeless.

Brushing the crumbs from her uniform and pocketing her wand, Adaire watched herself in the mirror. Her long black cloak, dark hair and shadowy eyes were a stark contrast to her pale countenance. She stopped herself from frowning, aware that it was a habit of hers. She drifted over to the window, gazing into the murky, green depths of the lake. It could be fascinating to sit and watch the creatures within the lake, which one would occasionally see swimming past. However, currently, even the fish seemed to be sleeping.

When it was almost six o'clock, Adaire left the girls' dormitories and entered the Slytherin common room, which appeared empty. She had almost reached the exit, which opened onto the castle's dungeons, when a voice from the near the fireplace made her jump out of her skin.

"A bit eager for breakfast aren't we?," drawled Sebastian Lestrange from his high-backed throne carved from ebony. His voice, like melted dark chocolate, was unmistakeable.

Adaire was surprised that he deigned to acknowledge her. He smirked at her surprise.

"I'm not going to breakfast," she replied with a frown, more truthfully than she intended, trying to keep her cool while frantically trying to think of somewhere she could credibly be going.

"What causes you to leave so early?," he persisted, watching her amusedly.

" I- well I need to- I have a meeting," Adaire floundered under his hawkish gaze.

" A meeting," he snickered, " you're a very bad lier. Do you always lie by telling the truth?"

Adaire stared at him, utterly confused.

"It's okay", he reassured her, standing up and knocking back the rest of whatever was in the crystal glass he deposited on the mantlepiece (she supposed it wasn't orange juice), " I know about the meeting. I have that meeting too. It's supposed to be a secret, but lucky for you I already know about it. I was just waiting for Terrence, no doubt he's messing around with that slut again. The others are already headed down there."

Adaire was still confused. From what she could piece together, she had stumbled upon a secret meeting and erroneously invited herself. Yet why did Sebastian assume they were headed for the same meeting? Perhaps because her Uncle was a member of Voldemort's inner circle, and because she was a pureblood. Furthermore, why else would she be up at this time? It was unlikely that another meeting would occur simultaneously this early in the morning-this must have been Sebastian's thinking.

Adaire deduced that whatever was supposed to happen during breakfast, Sebastian didn't know about it yet. Sebastian was Head Boy, as Voldemort himself was during his time at Hogwarts. Sebastian, cousin of Bellatrix Lestrange, Voldemort's most loyal servant, had been carefully picked for the role. He was a young, impressionable, able to impress and acted as a vessel for Voldemort's wishes and commands, a puppet even. This suggested that perhaps this secret meeting was linked to what was supposed to happen at breakfast, the most recent update on orders given by Voldemort . And perhaps those attending the meeting would escape the fate of the rest of the student body come breakfast time.

An exclamation from Sebastian drew her back into the room, " Terrence! Take your time mate!"

Terrence joined them in the common room, grinning sheepishly, " She didn't want me to leave. I said I'd see her later."

"You spend way too much time with her, " said Sebastian blithely, " stop wasting your time on girls and do something useful with it."

"I could say the same to you," retorted Terrance, his gaze flicking over to Adaire suggestively.

"What, Rosier?," snorted Sebastian, " I don't even know her first name. What is it by the way?"

Offended, Adaire turned to leave. Perhaps her newfound contempt for them would make losing them easier, and she could focus on getting to the Room of Requirement.

"Where are you going?," demanded Sebastian indignantly.

Apparently not.

Adare sighed and turned back to face them.

"You said girls were a waste of time Seb, don't kill her for leaving," said Terrence amusedly, "Adaire, isn't it?"

Right then, Adaire decided she liked Terrence a good deal more than Sebastian. She nodded.

"Well, Adaire, we're coming with you, so there's no sense in rushing off like that," said Sebastian reproachfully.

Adaire let Sebastian and Terrance lead the way, not knowing where the meeting was going to be held, nor able to escape them and avoid showing up at a meeting where she was not welcome.

They were descending the staircase which led to the doors of the Great Hall, when Terrence and Sebastian each produced a small card from their pockets. Adaire watched as a cloaked figure ahead of them approached the double doors, which were manned by another cloaked figure, and on presentation of an identical small card was allowed to pass through the door. This was the point that Adaire realised she had to make her excuses and leave: she had no card.

"Shit," Adaire exclaimed, drawing the attention of her companions, " I left my card in my room on the bedside table. Shit!"

"Can't you just accio it here," suggested Sebastian.

Terrence answered for her, " I don't think they would distribute top secret information cards which people could accio. Some things you can't accio and for good reason. Imagine if we could accio all the gold in Gringotts, or the Dark Lord's 'To Do' list."

Adaire couldn't help chuckling at this.

Sebastian turned on her, " I don't know why you're so amused, they won't be pleased that you're going to be late."

Snapping back to reality, Adaire regained her composure, " Right. I'll see you later."

With that, she scampered back in the direction they had come before anything could detain her.

She was, of course, not going back to her dorm room, and once she was out of sight, she took a detour to the seventh floor corridor that hosted the Room of Requirement. After checking the coast was clear, she thought hard of a place of refuge, pacing back and forth in front of the wall where she knew the door to be concealed. Low and behold, the door appeared. With a feeling of excitement mingled with trepidation, she reached for the door handle.

A/N Do you want to hear what happens next? Leave a comment :)