Ok so I'll start by saying Sorry. I know its been a while but I had to get my ideas sorted out for where I wanted to take this. This chapter is sort of a prologue, the next few will explain things a little more. Although the main character is still Nicole I'm also adding in other viewpoints which Trust me will make it better... I hope. Also I changed chapter twelve a little, Nicole never escaped. Also the story is continuing roughly four years in the future, well that said... Enjoy.

OXOXO

"Josh," exclaimed Jess in annoyance, "We don't have time for this."

He turned and gave her a wide grin, his pale eyes sparkling in amusement.

"Oh come on," he begged, "it'll be fun, and we'll just go for an hour or two."

Before them stood the entrance to a large carnival, it was like the fates of her childhood with bright banners flying everywhere and stalls selling candy floss and tat all over the place. There was even a teacups ride and in the centre stood a large circus tent. It was a muggle revel, to celebrate the successful invasion of Italy. It was spring time and a strange perversion of a mayday festival.

"I don't see how The Dark One's victory is reason for us to celebrate," she muttered darkly, "it would be highly inappropriate."

"I'll buy you some candyfloss, maybe a few beers..."

"Well..." she felt herself relenting a little at the promise of sugary goodness.

"Come on Jess when was the last time we relaxed," he asked raising his brow and all but daring her.

"Oh fine," Jess held up a hand to still his triumphant grin, "but if anything seems off we leave straight away, and no beer. You need to pretend to be sober."

They made their way into the fair and Jess felt unease prickle down her spine. Something wasn't quite right about the place. The first stool they stopped at sold bootleg CD's. Jess hurried him along smiling apologetically to the wary woman on the other side of the stand. The Carnivals were a common occurrence these days, put on to celebrate their grand masters victories. It hadn't taken The Dark Lord long to figure out that if he kept people drunk and moderately happy then he wouldn't have to worry too much about uprisings. The next stool sold junk and trinkets. Jess stared at the rabbit's foot on a raised platform with vague feelings of revulsion.

"What's that?" asked Josh, he looked highly perturbed as he regarded the dismembered rodent appendage.

"S'a Lucky Rabbit's foot," said the balding rotund old man from where he sat on a folding plastic chair, "protect you from a wizard's curse it will. Most valuable thing on this table."

A look of incredulity spread across Jess' face as she wondered who on earth would actually believe such a thing. With the wizards rising a lot of old Celtic lore and witch doctor medicine had gained sudden credence among many non-magical people, despite the fact that most of it was useless. The man's speech had the opposite effect on Josh who regarded the foot with sudden curiosity.

"How much you charging for it?" he asked.

"Ten quid," the man said greedily and Jess didn't bother to suppress her laughter.

"Ten pounds? That's extortionate, come on Jack it's a piece of junk," the man shot her a glare and she held his gaze levelly.

"That is a powerful magical object darling, it's nothin' to snort at" Jess raised her eyebrows.

"I'll give you two quid for it," said Josh quickly.

"Two quid you're having a laugh," he spluttered incredulously as he wobbled a little on his chair, "it's worth twenty... how much money you got on you?"

The man changed tactics suddenly trying to sound earnest, like he was doing them a favour letting them give him all their money for a rotting piece of junk.

"Three fifty," replied Josh lying through his teeth.

"I'll give it to you for a fiver but that's as low as I'll go," he seemed definitive and Jess raised an eyebrow. She was fairly certain the man had been a lot lower.

"We'll give you four quid for it," she told him earnestly, "it's a piece of junk and I won't spend a penny more."

"Done," said the man with a small grin, "but I'm only giving it to you for that because I like a good haggle."

Jess rolled her eyes and handed over the money as Josh slipped the foot into his pocket. She knew the man probably didn't give a rats behind about them, four pounds was a lot of money these days and she was fairly certain she had just been ripped off. As they walked away she shot Josh a glare showing her annoyance.

"Why did we just waste four quid on a rotten old rabbits foot?" she asked.

"Because its lucky," Josh replied.

"You can't just buy luck."

"Well it's not like I had time to look for a four-leaf is it," he said wryly.

"But..." began Jess, she was cut off when he put an arm around her shoulders.

"Just go with it," he said smiling at her as he jostled her a little she shrugged of his arm with a glare.

"What did I tell you about touching me," She warned him. Josh grinned at her unrepentantly.

"I believe I promised you some candy floss."

Jess sighed but allowed him to steer her towards the long queue for concessions.

"See it's not so bad is it," he told her smiling, "and your brilliant at haggling, remind me to bring you along to the next market, although I reckon we could probably have gotten it for three."

"Yeh taking me to the market will be a fantastic idea," she replied finally allowing her lips to twist a little into a grin, "can't think of anything that might possibly go wrong."

The queue moved surprisingly quickly and in a matter of moments they were moving through the fair Candy floss in hand.

"Let's see what's in the big tent, Maybe it's got a bar,"

As it turned out the tent did not have alcohol. When they entered Jess and Josh found themselves faced with a stadium that descended in rows of seats into the ground with an empty circle in the middle. It reminded her of a roman coliseum and Jess thought that it was probably something to do with the invasion of Italy. They sat down at the back of the stadium near the entrance as a horrible feeling of dread began uncoiling in her stomach. In a relatively short time the tent had filled up with people sitting expectantly jostling and laughing at one another.

"I don't like this," whispered Josh into her ear wearily. Jess nodded her assent.

"Something feels wrong," she muttered back under her breath.

Before either of them had time to figure out what a resounding crack echoed through the tent and a wizard appeared in a small box on the other side of the stadium, the area cleared and the dark one stood alone.

"Ladies and Gentleman," he said his wand raised to his lips as his voice boomed around the cotton walls. Jess realized then that to leave would be seen as suspicious, "I present to you for your entertainment The Roman Games."

The sick feeling twisted her gut as half remembered history lessons rose to the surface of her memories.

"Round one," she recognized his voice and she fought to keep the anger off her face, She knew that wizard, "Muggle..."

A man in his late twenties entered the pit through a grill in the side. Cheering echoed through the room as he held up a devilishly sharp looking pair of knives in his hand. He was all muscle's and his ripped and toned body shone in the torchlight.

"Verses the Mudblood..."

A boy of no more than twelve or thirteen staggered into the ring, he was covered in dirt and bruises and he looked around in utter terror. His dark brown hair was incredibly knotted and he had been given no weapon to defend himself.

"Josh..."

"I know," he whispered quietly, the low light doing nothing to hide the look of revulsion that covered his features, "We have to do something."

"No Josh," she replied, guilt clawing at her insides but her eyes were completely cold as she spoke, "We can't interfere... We'll report back to the general. He'll know what to do."

For some reason as she stared at the boy her thoughts drifted towards her family, to her younger sisters. To April who was still alive somewhere, and to Nicole who had shared the same fate that awaited the young Muggleborn bleeding on the sands below.

XOXOX

Helena was crouched so that her eyes were just on a level with the kitchen counter. She was in that particular position because she was making sure that the flour in the measuring glass was exactly 400g. The direction seemed a particularly important feature of the easy bake cupcake formula on page three of her baking recipe book. It was roughly the third time that Helena had used this recipe in her cover to cover exploration of the two hundred and seventy seven page recipe book, which contained exactly two hundred and eighty nine recipes. Straightening up she allowed herself a small smile as she smoothed down her favourite skirt. Today would be different, today she had decided to change the formula. Today Helena would create her own cupcakes, which she hoped would be far better than their easy bake counterparts.

An arm encircling her waist and a kiss on her cheek alerted Helena to the arrival of her favourite visitor.

"Lou," she exclaimed, her eyes gleaming as she spun round to face him, "You're early."

He looked vaguely affronted as she waved the measuring jug in his face. Helena might have almost believed she had upset him that is if she couldn't read his pale grey eyes as easily as a bestseller.

"I thought I would surprise you sweet," he said before Lou leaned in and pressed his lips to hers. The kiss was gentle at first, barely a whisper against her lips, before Helena responded. Wrapping her arms around his neck she pressed against him.

A moan escaped her as he pulled away and she took in the wicked smirk on his lips with hazy eyes.

"I love you," she had meant to tell him off for stopping, but instead the three small words she had been desperate to utter slipped out. His eyes suddenly emptied as he took a step backwards.

"Pardon..?" he asked Helena swallowed wishing she hadn't said it.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, turning back to the counter as she stared at the ingredients she had laid out earlier. She couldn't look at him.

"It's just ever since you rescued me," she told the flour intently, "I mean I don't remember it but I know that you did. You looked after me when I was just an empty shell, when I was so confused and scared and... I love you."

He placed a hand on her shoulder and Helena jumped. The jerk knocked the glass on the floor and it suddenly shattered into a hundred pieces spilling the flour everywhere. He spun her around and looked deeply into her eyes.

"You silly girl, I love you to," his lips came crashing against hers once again as he pushed her up onto the work surface, wrapping her legs around him in the process. Helena was feeling suddenly uneasy however. A vague prickling sensation, almost like a headache, had begun in her temple and it was distracting her from what was supposed to be a perfect moment.

"What is it?" he asked breaking their kiss with a look of concern, "What's wrong?"

She stared back at him as sudden realization hit her, this man was not called Lou. Nicole pushed him away as she jumped down from the counter. She put her hands up and moved away from him.

"I'm sorry, Lou, I just..." she cast her eyes around for anything she could say to the man she despised, "I just really put a lot of effort into those ingredients..."

"Helena," he said gently as he encased her in his arms once again, "It's alright, calm down."

Nicole did her best not to shudder as she returned the embrace hoping he would let her go soon.

"I'm glad you're back," he whispered.

"I haven't been anywhere," replied Nicole uneasily as he held her tighter.

"Did you really think you could fool me Nicole," he asked.

"Who's Nicole?" she tried to add confusion to her voice.

Suddenly she was on the floor, flour was sticking to her arms and little shards of glass had embedded themselves into her skin. Lucius was on top of her, his chest leaning against her as he pushed her legs apart.

"You can't fool me Seven, I know the moment your eyes change," there was a cold glitter in his gaze as placed a hand on her shoulder to stop her squirming, "It's been months since you last managed to break through the curse."

"Get off of me," she hissed. He moved backwards as if to let her up and Nicole skittered away. She was on her feet in a second running. He let out a mocking laugh and she knew he was behind her. It was still light outside as she wrenched open the back door, fear spurring her steps. There must be an escape, Maybe I can fight him. No not again. It was drizzling lightly and the rain made the ground damp beneath her feet.She had just reached the grass when he slammed into her back knocking her to the floor.

"You always run," he whispered in her ear, Nicole could taste an odd mixture of dirt and blood in her mouth, she must have bitten her tongue.

"Let me go," she couldn't think of a thing to say, the only thing inside her was pure panic, "Please let me go."

"No," said Lucius coldly as he hiked up the skirt that Helena had worn so happily to please Lou. She could feel him against her, Please not again.

He didn't even bother to take her knickers off, he simply pulled them to the side and slammed into her from behind. Nicole screamed, her voice piercing through the cool evening air as he rocked forward and pumped into her. Tears started in her eyes as he lifted her hips to meet him. Nicole tried to crawl away clawing her fingers into the wet ground in an attempt to wrench free. He pushed forward again letting out a little growl as he reached over her body and grabbed onto her breast to stop her. He pulled down the front of her top exposing her to the cold air. When she tried again to pull away he pushed her forward squeezing her chest so hard it was painful and she let out another yell.

"Stop," she begged as he pulled out of her again. He let out what could only be described as a growl as he slammed into her.

"Never," he panted as his nails dug into her flesh, "I will never let you go."

OXOXO

April glared at the stick floating on the surface of the pond. A series of ripples coalesced around it and more appeared as fish jumped to the surface desperate to beat the Canadian geese to any possible food. Unfortunately for the wide variety of trout and pikes that inhabited the area there were no breadcrumbs, just one highly annoyed little girl.

"That's unfair, you have longer arms so of course yours went further," she was pouting and she knew it. Jess who was stood beside her just laughed.

"It has nothing to do with arm length," her sister told her, a wry smile twisting across her lips, "it's all about technique, you have to throw it the right way."

"What's the right way to throw it?"

Her question would never be answered, at that moment Nicole appeared with a very tired old Labrador trailing behind her.

"This place is boring," she exclaimed rubbing her forehead with one hand and clutching her protruding hipbone with the other, the dog gave a tired huff of agreement "How long do you think before mum and dad will take us home."

She was wearing a t-shirt and shorts and at thirteen Nicole had just grown out of her puppy fat leaving her ridiculously skinny. Jess two years her elder was already a young woman, more curvy than skinny and just a little taller than her younger sister. April herself was only eight at the time and barely reached Jess's waist.

"Dad's still up at the house, it could be hours," said the eldest sister with a long suffering frown. This was a situation they had been in many times before and would likely be again, "Join our game Nicksie."

"What are you playing?"

"We're seeing who can throw the stick the furthest," April told her earnestly, "only Jess keeps winning."

"We'll see about that," there was a hint of determination in Nicole's eyes that April knew meant things were about to get worse for her. She could just about handle losing to Jess, but being beaten by both her sisters was plain embarrassing.

"You're on," said Jess with her trademark grin, as she picked up a medium sized stick from the ground. Drawing her arm back she flung it forward like a javelin and the stick flew through the air making it half way to the island before it splashed into the water.

Nicole frowned a little.

"That was just luck," Jess made no comment choosing instead to raise her eyebrows. Nicole grabbed a stick from the ground shooting her older sister a challenging look. The second twig hit the water no more than a foot closer to them than Jess's had been and Nicole laughed.

"Ah well you've had more practice than me," they both turned to look at April fixing identical encouraging grins. They knew she wouldn't be able to throw it far at all, and April felt vague stirrings of anger in her tummy.

"Your turn April."

She gulped a little feeling vaguely ashamed as she picked a muddy twig up from the ground. She clutched her fist around it tightly before drawing her arm back and hoping against hope that her throw would not be as abysmal as before. She chucked the stick and looked away in embarrassment. Her sisters let out matching incredulous gasps and she quickly glanced back to see something astounding. Her stick was not only airborne but gaining height and speed as it accelerated through the sky. It flew over the top of the island and disappeared into the trees on the other side of the pond.

"That was incredible..." said Nicole her eyes wide.

"What a lovely memory," said a dry voice behind them and April looked round to see Victor there with a small twist to his lips, "If I were a unfriendly wizard rifling through your mind it would have been quite perfect in establishing your blood status."

She glared at him in annoyance as the world around her began to flicker.

"After all the time we've devoted to this I find myself wondering if you're even trying to block your mind from me," he said a look of boredom on his features as he inspected his fingernails.

"I am trying," exclaimed a much older April in frustration, "It's just, difficult."

"Honestly seventeen now and you still pout like you did when you were eight," he let out a sigh as the memory faded away completely, "I sometimes wonder if it's even worth teaching you this."

"I'm trying," she repeated in frustration, "please I'll do better."

They sat on the floor in the training room, which was really more than anything Victor's study. Century's old text lined the wall and the Persian rug on which April was perched cross legged was faded and stained from use.

"I've taught you for years and this is the one thing," he paused for a second, "besides tact that is, that you've failed to grasp. Some people are just not meant for occulmency."

"I'm sorry," she said bowing her head to hide the blush that hit her cheeks, "I... I don't know why I can't do it."

"You have very little discipline, your mind runs all over the place and you find it difficult to control your emotions," he told her with the slightest hint of reproof, "in order to shield a mind it must be... well ordered."

"Your mind isn't ordered," she snapped back in annoyance, "you jump all over the place, your irrational and you make decisions with no thought of reasoning or consequence. How can you call me disorganized."

"Ah so good to see that tact is still in place," she glared at him.

"Let's do it again," April demanded.

"We've been working at it for three hours, I hardly see the point..."

"Again," she repeated and he raised his eyebrows at her tone.

"Ask nicely and I might consider it."

"Victor..." she exclaimed in frustration but he chose that moment to dive into her mind.

They were back by the water's edge and Jess put a hand out to ruffle her hair.

"You should take up athletics Pri..."

April shoved the memory away and tried to force her mind to become blank. When he tried to bring it to the surface she pushed it away once again. Victor went for another memory and she quickly changed it turning it into a liquid like substance that slipped through his incorporeal fingers.

"Very good, you're finally learning," fuelled by his condescending tone she gathered up as much mental energy as she could and threw him hard from her mind. When she opened her eyes she found him regarding her with a smirk.

"How's that for disorganized," she raised her eyebrows and gave him her best imitation of his goading glare.

"I'm impressed," he said lightly, "I would be more impressed if it had taken you less than three months to master the skill."

She slumped her head into her hands and let out a groan of frustration.

"Can't you ever just say well done?" she exclaimed, "I've been learning magic four years and already I'm working at and above N.E.W.T level. Can't you just be impressed?"

"Only in some areas," said Victor, "Your transfiguration is woefully lacking, and don't even get me started on your arithmancy."

"Who cares about equations."

"That is most definitely not an acceptable attitude," a hint of anger entered his voice. April quickly bit her tongue, and stared at the ground. It wasn't a good idea to make him angry, "When you leave here you need to be one of the most skilled witches alive if you want any hope of survival."

She glanced up at him, her eyes filled with contrition.

"Do I really have to go back there?" she couldn't hide the quiver of fear in her voice and his face softened a little.

"You don't belong here," he told her gently resting a hand on her shoulder, "The Atruis is not the place for a mortal."

"I don't belong there either," said April sadly, "the world is no place for a muggleborn."

"Well then you'll have to make it into one," he squeezed her shoulder a little more tightly, "Don't seem so sad, you shall still be here a while, I will not let you leave until you have reached your full potential, and that includes mastering every equation I can find."

XOXOX

His footsteps circled her like a twisted drum beat, filled with darkness and the screams of the damned. Or perhaps I'm being just a little overdramatic, thought Jess to herself as the General finally decided to sit down behind his desk. His temples were speckled with grey hair despite the fact that he was barely mid thirties and his dark eyes reflected the luminescent lighting of the room giving them an immeasurable depth usually reserved for oceans and the deepest of caverns. He was unsettling to Jess and despite the fact that he was a strong good man, and more to the point a genius in leadership she never quite felt safe around him. It possibly had something to do with the fact that whenever he briefed her on a mission personally it was bound to prelude an experience she would not appreciate.

"Miss Archer, I am unsure how best to put this..." he began clearing his throat awkwardly. Jess squeezed the hands clenched in her lap together a little more tightly as she waited patiently for him to continue, "There is a place I will need you to infiltrate for me."

There was silence in the room broken only by the ticking of the wall clock. Jess quite often enjoyed infiltrating places yet something told her that she was not going to this time. After a long pause she looked up from her hands and found him staring at her with an unfathomable look.

"Where exactly am I infiltrating sir?" There was a slight quiver in her voice and she cleared her throat uncomfortably.

"After you're report on the Games..."

At the simple answer she felt the breath whoosh out of her lungs. She remembered the night of the fate vividly, she remembered looking on as a man beat a boy to death in front of a crowd of cheering onlookers. It still made her feel sick.

"The games, you want me to stop them?"

His eyes searched hers briefly before his lips broke into a charming grin.

"It is your birthday after all," he told her, "I feel that you ought to be allowed to take charge of this strike against the enemy."

"Sir I..." Jess was literally stunned, she had no idea what to say to him.

"Select a team for back up," his seemed almost indulgent as the light suddenly caught his iris obscuring their depth like reflection on a river and suddenly he no longer seemed as ageless "and take Josh with you as well, you'll need to case out the operation first."

"All the information we have is in this file," he said handing her a slim brown envelope, "It's not much but it will help you and your team build a picture of your operation."

Jess slowly reached out and took the file still stunned beyond words. Part her wanted to ask him what exactly was going on, and more importantly what he was actually planning, the other half, the soldier was too terrified to ask her general anything.

"Thank you... Sir..."

OXOXO

Well there it is, review and tell me what you think.