September 1, 2014

Alessandra di Angelo sat curled in her seat, peering out the window of the Hogwarts Express. She was a tall figure, with thick, wavy black hair, olive skin, and piercing golden eyes. Although, the only thing her eyes were currently piercing was a pane of glass.

"Come on, perk up," Blaise Zabini nudged her, "You're going to give yourself wrinkles if you keep making that face." He was sitting between her and the window and his sudden appearance in her field of vision broke her concentration.

She chuckled, "The only thing that's going to give me wrinkles is you," she nudged his shoulder back, "I can't believe you snuck out to that concert-The Rabid Chimeras' are known for having out of control gigs. Didn't like, eight people end up in St. Mungo's?"

"And I'll have you know I was not one of them," Blaise sniffed proudly. She rolled her eyes. This is how they spoke. Slytherins didn't speak of unpleasantries. They all just acted as if the Dark Lord hadn't begun taking over.

It drove her insane.

"He's got a point," Theodore Nott said, from the opposite bench. The Slytherin seventh years had all condensed in the first car of the train, the one with booths instead of compartments. She and Blaise sat opposite Theodore, with Draco, Pansy, Crabbe, and Goyle to their side in the next booth over.

"Besides," Theodore added, looking slyly at her, "I seem to recall several summers your behavior was even more risky."

Alexa crossed her arms, "Watch it, Nott."

Blaise snorted, "He'd like to."

Alexa raised her eyebrows and scoffed, "That was weak, your innuendos disappoint me."

Theodore turned beat red, despite the lackluster quality of the insinuation.

A sudden screeching startled them all, and the train ground to a stuttering stop.

"We've just barely left the station," Blaise muttered. Alexa's hand shot to her wand.

"What's happening?" she demanded, turning to look at Draco. He didn't meet her eyes. Abruptly Theodore switched sides, now sitting between Alexa and the aisle. She wasn't sure if it was an attempt to protect her or to contain her. Both options were equally likely.

The door to the compartment slid open, and Alexa's grip on her wand turned white-knuckled. A man stood illuminated in the doorway, with black robes that hung loose over his lanky frame, and a silver mask that gleamed eerily in the mid morning sun.

Bloody Death Eaters.

He lifted a gloved hand and pulled the mask off, revealing a handsome grinning face. His eyes were a shade of brown that could have been construed as warm, but there was something very off. Alexa didn't trust his eyes. They were too hot, too blazing. At any moment the man looked like he could snap and burn everything.

"Oh good," he said, casually stepping into the car, "Just us Slytherins." He grinned as if they were all the best of friends, and Pansy smiled eagerly in return. Draco seemed like he was doing everything he could not to make eye contact. She thought she vaguely recognized him. He was only a few years older than they were. She might have even gone to school with him. The thought twisted her stomach.

"Malfoy!" the Death Eater's smile broadened, "How's it going, mate?"

Alexa turned away from the scene at a flash of movement at the compartment door. Neville Longbottom was peeking in, brows furrowed, mouth tight.

Meanwhile, the Death Eater had pulled a roll of parchment out of his robe, and was showing it off to a slightly green Draco.

"Going to take care of the mudblood problem right away."

"Oh, not the halfbloods?" Pansy simpered.

"Not yet," the man's lip curled, "The Dark Lord has another plan for them. But the mudbloods can't be tolerated." So that's what he was after. That didn't work for her.

She stood up.

"Alexa no," Blaise hissed. Theodore gripped her wrist. They knew her well enough to know exactly where her mind was going.

"Don't start anything," Theo begged.

Alexa caught Neville Longbottom's eye as he peered into the compartment. She exhaled, and slipped her wrist out of his hand.

"Don't worry," she murmured.

Draco looked up just in time to catch her eye. He shook his head just the tiniest bit. Just enough to let her know that he was deeply against whatever it was she was about to do. It was quite easy to ignore him; she was already in the habit of doing so.

She smiled at the Death Eater, "Sorry, excuse me," she murmured.

He flashed her a grin and winked, "Sorry miss," he responded, stepping slightly back to let her pass.

Draco, Theodore, and Blaise all stared after her in varying states of panic as she slipt from the car.

"Longbottom," she hissed, as a hand latched around her arm and dragged her out of sight of the small window. They were in the tiny room between the cars. It was just them, no one to overhear.

"What does he want?" Neville demanded.

"Muggleborns. He's got a list with names. I don't even want to know what he's planning to do with them. We need to get them all off the train. Fast. He's talking to Draco right now, but we need to move quickly-"

"I don't know how many of us can apparate them off, even with most of them missing-"

"I'll get them off. Just help me get them to the back of the train."

"What do you mean you'll-"

Alexa rolled up her left sleeve, revealing the burnt in SPQR and helm. Neville was a pure blood. Hopefully he knew what it meant, and what it meant she was capable of.

"Shadow Travel. I can take more people at once and it's safer than apparition. No risk of splinching."

He only stared for a moment before nodding. "I'll go first, people trust me. Make sure to catch any stragglers. Count to ten before following. There's going to be panic, especially with the younger kids."

Alexa nodded, and Neville took off through the door to the next car.

One.

Her heart was pounding. She'd get everyone in the last two cars. As long as they were all touching, she could shadow travel them all out.

Two. Where would she take them? There had to be a safe place somewhere. It had to be totally random and unexpected. And someplace dozens of children wouldn't seem out of place.

Three. She clicked the lock shut on the door.

Four. Think di Angelo, think.

Five. She didn't have it in her to get them very far. England would have to do. London was the only city she knew relatively well.

Six. A public building in London. Where loads of school children wouldn't be noticed.

Seven. How far could she shadow travel?

Eight. She couldn't afford to pass out.

Nine. She pulled the green and silver tie off and tucked it in her robe pocket. She would be trusted more without it.

Ten.

Alexa hurled the door open to a sea of terrified faces.

"This one's clear," Luna Lovegood called. Ginny Weasley was sitting next to her, wand in her hand, eyes fixed on the door. She looked like a cat waiting to pounce.

Alexa nodded and kept running. Car after car she darted through, pausing only to verify the absence of muggleborns. Thankfully Neville had been thorough. Eventually she hit the tail end of the mass of people.

"How many more cars to go?" she asked the nearest student, a seventh year Hufflepuff named Annabell Sockets.

"Di'Angelo! What the hell are you doing here?" she demanded.

"Making sure there aren't any stragglers, how many more cars?"

She eyed the Slytherin with distrust, "Six. We're spanning two cars though. There aren't that many of us, so it's been moving pretty quickly."

Alexa nodded, "Good. There was only one Death Eater. Are the older students towards the back? We could probably fight them off if it came down to it."

She nodded, "That's how Neville organized us."

Alexa nodded, "Good. Right, I have a variety of port key on me-Once we get everyone to the back I'll need everybody to make sure they're touching each other." That was easier to explain than anything else.

"Why do you have that?" Melody Moonsfield, a fourth year, asked, her Ravenclaw tie hanging crookedly from her tiny shoulders.

"Just in case," she shrugged.

They had passed through another car now. Only five now. Or four, considering they took up two cars.

Alexa was practically bouncing up and down as they finally hit the last two cars. She could hear shouting behind her, high pitched voices mingling with heavier ones. The Death Eater must know something was up by now. She bit her lip, she could get them all there. They could be more that sixty miles outside of London. She had been to the British museum before. She knew where it was. She heard doors beginning to slam throughout the train. Her heart was pounding at least a mile a minute. It was now or never-they were so close. Almost unconsciously she began praying to whatever god was listening that they might make it out of this.

And then the line stopped moving.

"Everybody make sure you've got a hand on somebody!" Alexa hollered, "You've all got to be connected for this to work!"

Annabell and Melody each grabbed one of her hands, grasping onto the students next to them as well.

"We're clear!" Neville yelled squeezing around the muggle borns to stand by her side, "Go!"

"Hold your breath!" She shouted.

And they were gone.

Alexa fell to her knees the moment they reappeared in the light, her body positively shaking in exhaustion. She squeezed her eyes shut as the world became blurred. She was only vaguely aware of the polished floor that chilled her hands and knees. She was even less aware of the people around her. They sounded like insects buzzing around. She shook her head, trying to clear them out of her ears. They were crawling around inside her skull, poking needles through her skin.

"Di Angelo!" Annabell was by her side, "di Angelo, are you alright?"

Alexa nodded, forcing herself to her feet, "Fine. Keep everyone calm, keep them in here.

you'll blend in-just go look at the exhibits, I'll go and get help. Stay safe." She had to get away from the bugs.

Annabell was bewildered, but nodded anyways, "I will."

She nodded and spun on her heel, diving back into the shadows. The world passed by in a million degrees of black and grey, swirling around her like a blizzard of blurry shapes. She knew exactly where she needed to go. There was only one place she could think of really.

Alexa stepped out in McGonagall's office.

The older woman let out a startled shout and if Alexa had been a moment slower she

would have been struck by the blast of red light that shot towards her.

She stumbled, falling to the floor. The trip to Hogwarts took up infinitely less energy that it had taken to transport the fifty plus muggle borns, but she was still burnt out. She would be lucky if she didn't just pass out when she got back to the train. But the buzzing had been blissfully banished.

"Miss di Angelo-!" McGonagall said, rising from her desk, "What is going on?" she demanded.

Alexa didn't bother standing up, "Death Eater on the train-he wanted the muggle borns. Neville rounded them up before he could and I took them to the British museum-they're still there. They need help."

"Merlin's beard," McGonagall breathed. She hurried around her desk and helped Alexa get vertical, "You need to get back-can you get back?"

Alexa nodded mutely.

"Then go, before someone notices you're missing," McGonagall looked ready to raise hell, a very specific kind of fire and brimstone rising in her eyes.

Good.

Alexa nodded, and crumpled back into the shadows. She reappeared in the empty hallway between the first car and the second car. Neville was there waiting for her.

He yelped in surprise, clapping a hand over his mouth, "Merlin, you actually did it! Everyone is off the train." His eyes were enormous. She nodded, swaying.

"Drains me though," her voice was strangely thick in her own ears as she stared at her shoes.

Her vision shifted, careening in and out of focus. "Took too many people. Too much. Too tired"

"Are you alright?" Neville asked, his brows pushing together. She only nodded.

"I had better get back-I'll talk to you later, yeah?" he bent slightly, trying to move into her field of vision. She nodded again, not having the strength to look up. Every part of her, from her nose to her toes, ached. Her hands were shaking as she fumbled with the compartment door, and she could barely see straight. She couldn't pass out. Whatever happened, she couldn't pass out. At least until she got to her seat. She was vaguely aware of shouting from down the train, but she couldn't make sense of it. The man had probably discovered that the muggle borns were gone. Hopefully the Dark Lord would punish him for his failure. The thought satisfied her.

She took a deep breath, and forced herself to walk straight as she came back into the compartment. Theodore was staring at her, and she wished he wouldn't. A glance at her watch told her she had only been gone for seven minutes. It wasn't too shabby, she decided.

She sat down heavily between Blaise and Theodore, barely able to keep her eyes open. She was still shaking.

"Where were you?" Blaise whispered.

Alexa shook her head, and with humongous, effort she murmured the words "They're safe."

Theodore slid his hand into hers, and she was too tired to protest.

"Take some," he said, his voice low.

She frowned up at him, her head lolled to the side. She was too weak to move.

"Alexa," he squeezed her hand, "Please. You can't pass out now."

"Y'know what that does," her words were slurred.

"Come on," Theodore encouraged.

She closed her eyes, and focused. At once she could feel the energy swirling in Theodore's body. He squeezed her hand a third time, urging her on.

Children of Pluto had an ability. Alexa had no idea if her late siblings had it, but she certainly did. Put simply, it was the ability to drain another living creature of their energy, or life force. It was a move of vampirish proportions, she got any of the energy she drained. The only thing she needed for it to work was skin on skin contact. Theodore knew about it, and they had done this before. She would sometimes take a little bit of his energy (only when he willingly gave it of course) if she was about to pass out.

Slowly she began to pull from him, taking just a small stream of the pulsing force. She didn't take too much. Just enough to make her stop shaking. The ache ebbed from her limbs, and she exhaled deeply.

"Thank you," she whispered. Theodore yawned and nodded. He was fine, she was sure. She could feel how steady his life was, she didn't take much.

"Told you," he grinned. She chuckled, and closed her eyes, leaning on Blaise's shoulder, Theodore's hand still clasping hers.

"You're going to give me wrinkles," Blaise muttered, crossing his arms.

"I thought I was going to give myself wrinkles," she yawned.

"You're going to give us all wrinkles," Theodore snorted, leaning his head back against the seat. Alexa made a noise of agreement in response.

She cracked her eyes open and caught Draco looking at her, something unreadable in his eyes. He looked away as soon as he noticed her looking back. She shrugged it off. Whatever Malfoy's problem was could wait. She was going to take a nap.

McGonagall would take care of the muggle borns, she was sure. She could rest now. Blaise would scold her later but she didn't care. They were safe.