Chapter One

First there were Five

Wormrtail stared at the dead body of the old man, his hands pressed against his chest in a cowardly manner. He dared not speak before his lord until he spoke to him.

Wormtail knew better than most that it is not smart to offend Lord Voldemort after he killed.

"What are you waiting for Wormtail! Dispose of this old man!" Shouted Voldemort icily, hiding his inner smile of having the chance to dispatch such a stupid man. Wormtail fumbled for his wand, but quickly cast a spell lifting up the old Gardner and placing him in the room closest to theirs so that Nagini could have her feast in private.

As soon as he was out of sight, Voldemort resumed his talk of schemes with his cowardly servant.

"What of the Romans, Wormtail?"

"Th..the Romans my Lord? Oh, yes p-please forgive me…Lord… I now know that they will now be attending the World Cup."

The dark lord only needed a moment of thought before he brought what was left of his face into a snarl.

"You stupid Rat! Why didn't you mention that when we spoke of the World Cup earlier. If that is the only place that we can find them than that is where we shall go! Bring my servant with you!" commanded the dark lord, his order complimented by a menacing hiss of his pet as she descended to her meal.

While a certain black haired boy woke screaming in a place far, far away, five young people could be found walking across the small stone ruins of what was once Hadrian's wall. The dividing line between the Romans and the Scotts in the ancient world.

These five brown haired youths walked without any care in the world, well, except one, the obvious leader and the oldest who walked with a purpose that almost annoyed his companions.

"Come on Marcus! There is no need to be in a hurry!" called Marcus's brother Atticus who had his arm around his girlfriend Julia, both walking with a sway that a slow dancing couple could envy.

"Come on Atticus! There is no need to waste time! The World Cup is miles away, and I would probably not be going at such a pace if we did not have to walk the whole distance!" He shouted back.

* "Festina Lente! That is all that you will accomplish going like that if we do not show the same merit." proclaimed Brody, who stood taller and flimsier than his friends.

Atticus smiled at the debate he inspired, but instead of joining in he simply looked affectionately at his partner and nuzzled her in closer to him. Julia smiled back, not wanting to take Marcus's side for fear that she would lose this time with Atticus.

All the while the fifth member of their group, Clemens, walked just behind the loving couple, and while he walked silently on the wild grasses if you were to place your ear close enough you could catch a sigh- sigh of jealousy for his friend's closeness, a sigh that only worked to solidify his thoughts about longing in his mind so that they would remain no matter how hard he beat them off.

But his jealousy was undetectable to his friends as they walked through the night.

But something could be heard, a song was being sung by Atticus and Julia, one that all of the group knew by heart. And while most people would have found them impossible to understand, as they sang in the Latin language, each of them knew exactly what each word meant.

We sing as is sung

For the day is not done

About how we're together

My love!

As we step together

Tonight without weather

I'll remember you my love!

To you I suggest

A final request

That we stay together

Oh Please!

For when Ashes

Return to the Ashes

We will still be together

Oh love!

And that when the

Fire Bird Rises

From our very own ashes

We will still fly together My love!

While the lovers walked together and sang their own song, the rest hummed along in respect.

And even Clemens's jealousy was quenched with a sympathy for his happy friends who had fallen in love under that song-as it was a very powerful song.

Then again, there was rarely a song that was sung from their lips that was not without a power that the world had so long ago forgotten.

But the group of five, all dressed in black denim jackets, dress pants and white t-shirts, kept walking by the wall until they found the portkey to take them to the World Cup. It couldn't have been too far they all thought.

While they had finished their lyrics all of them kept humming the lulling tune in hopes that they would all collapse asleep so that they might drift to a better place. Maybe a place that had a good Quidditch game going on, and the majority of them also wished for some very attractive ladies to be waiting for them as well.

It had taken Marcus and Atticus quite a lot to locate the five tickets with exceptional seating for the Quidditch World Cup, including a not so legal spell on the vendor of said tickets. But it had all been worth it, a chance to see the World Cup could not be missed as unlike the wizards attending the large schools they didn't have anything of the sorts to entertain themselves with besides each other and whatever town they currently resided in provided.

And that town would change quite a bit, after all there were people who would kill thousands of innocents to so much as know a third of the secrets they knew. After all, they were the last of the two ancient families, Brody and Julia hailed from the Aurelius house, and the other three hailed from the Superbus household.

As the last descendants of these family's it was their duty to keep practicing the ancient magic of their ancestors, magic that came not from wands (even though they did use them) but from their stories, poems and songs.

All five knew that eventually the children of Julia and Atticus would go to carry on their legacy as it was unlikely that any of them would take on being a mentor.

But none of them could know that the greatest tragedy would fall upon the two houses in the history of either when they would reach their destination.

It was not until Sunday that the five wanderers arrived at the World Cup, all of them exhausted from their long trek. Right before they were about to go out in search of the site that Marcus had booked for them, a rather confused looking man stopped them.

"Um sir, you do know you have to pay, right?"

Marcus blinked once, but finally figured out that the man was a muggle and remembered that the cost of the tickets did not cover the site they booked.

"Hey, Atticus, you have the money right?" Asked Marcus calling back to his brother while not taking his eyes off the muggle.

"I thought you had it."

Marcus whirled around in bewilderment, not believing that he could of lost track of their money.

"Oh, I'm just joking Marcus." smiled Atticus while pulling out a wrinkled mass of paper bills.

After paying the man, who was still looking at them oddly as they turned to leave.

"Are you all a band or something?" he asked motioning to their strange dress.

"No."

"Well, I was just asking cause there so many odd people showing up lately, is their like some Woodstock thing going on that no one is telling me about, or some music festival because…"

"Something like that," interrupted Brody.

The man kept glancing back at the group even after he made his way back to a plastic chair with a clipboard beside it.

Clemens chuckled at their encounter with the muggle and watched as he was approached by another group, filled with lots of people with bright red hair and he also noticed a skinny boy with black hair and glasses. He seemed to look vaguely familiar. Clemens brushed that thought away, he was a stranger, but still something about that boy…

With the map that the confused muggle had given them they were able to find their camp relatively easily, especially with Brody helping them, as Brody was always the navigator no matter where they went. Atticus would sometimes joke that if Brody had been left at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean he could find his way to the nearest convenience store in a matter of hours. Although that wasn't really a stretch of the imagination for any of them considering all the places they had been.

"Who will you be rooting for?" asked Julia to Marcus while the other three conjured up a suitable tent. Marcus cocked his head to the right and thought about it, he hadn't really been able to think about things like that since he had been so caught up in simply trying to come here without being noticed. He had used aliases and disguises all the way so that no one would know who the leader of the group was.

But he decided that he would simply go along with Bulgaria, he had a few good friends in that country, not all of them wizards. He knew that almost all of the others would be rooting for Ireland, but such petty things could never bother Marcus or even Atticus Superbus.

After receiving her answer Julia returned to Atticus, "How about we give these lovely people a little pre-game show, my dear?" She asked while gazing at the crowd walking about.

She giggled as she saw a tall clumsy looking boy spill water he was carrying by trying to wave at a girl across the way.

Everybody but Brody wanted to walk around in the hope of seeing an old wizarding friend whom they made on their many travels. "There are too many oblivators and unspeakables walking about! What if they recognize us!" he said in a hushed tone even though nobody was even close to them.

"You are being ridiculous, they are not here for us, and even if they were, it's not like they could bring us in or anything," said Marcus half amused by his friend's hyper caution.

Without warning a booming voice echoed through the forest and field, all five of the group grinned as they marched towards the stadium. Their organization stood in stark contrast to the feverish run to the stadium, the lantern covered paths were filled to the brim.

But even they, the most patient learners and teachers of magic in all of Europe, could not escape the air of the moment as their steps became smaller and more excited, all of them finally making it to their seats just as the mascots started to begin their parade.

Atticus allowed himself a small smile as he saw the Veela go first, as Veela had a special place in the hearts of the five Romans. Something from an ancient story about his own house back in the days of the monarchy.

And while they danced and almost all the other males in the stadium stood up, including Brody, to have a better look at the spectacle, Atticus remained seated and bit his lip until he was afraid it would be bleed.

Atticus shook his head, "Good boy," said Julia light heartedly, patting her boyfriends shoulder while Marcus pulled Brody back down.

After the Parade had passed Atticus nudged Julia and pointed up and behind them, "The minister of Magic is sitting right up there," he said proudly at his and Marcus's efforts for these seats.

"Hey, that black haired boy next to all those red heads, does he look familiar to you?" asked Clemens out of nowhere. Now all of them looked back at the seats above them, searching for this boy.

Brody sent Clemens a side glance, as the rest all shared wondering expressions.

"Are you kidding me, Clemens, that is none other than Harry Potter, The Boy Who lived!" He said expecting all of them to know what he was talking about.

"Are we supposed to be impressed or something, because…"

"You guys never read anything from this century do you?"

Everybody shook their heads.

"You do know who Lord Voldemort is, though, right?" asked Brody quietly knowing the people around them might become suspicious.

This time they nodded, "Well, he is the man who defeated him thirteen years ago. I can't remember the exact story, so don't ask me, but he is pretty famous."

Marcus shrugged, showcasing the famous traits of the Superbus name, always proud and sometimes arrogant.

The Romans went on to watch the thrilling game, Atticus was reduced to fits of giggles as soon as the mascots went at it. Even though he rooted for the Irish in the sky, he couldn't help but feel his empathy go to the Veela firebirds.

And as the game drew to a close with Ireland taking the title, but Krum taking the snitch all five returned to their tent, more than satisfied.

But as they crawled into their respective sleeping bags Marcus made the order they all knew he would.

"Clemens, I believe it is your turn tonight."

"I thought we would skip tonight, Marcus, you know it being our time off and all." said Atticus.

"No, it is alright," said Clemens before Marcus could rebuttal.

Without out any other delay Clemens began his story. It was an ancient story, as many of his stories were. The story of how an elder couple turned to an intertwined tree together as they died, for their love for each other was too strong to be parted, even by death.

And as Clemens had his narration, the other five saw the story go on, through light and sound, the magic of his words caused shadows to grow, and just as the last word rolled off his tongue two small sprouts came up from the ground.

Everybody's eyes twinkled with a childish gleam when they saw the result of Clemens magic, as they always did.

"Good job, Clemens," whispered Julia, all the others nodded in agreement.

"Brilliant job, as always." said Marcus as he shifted in his bag.

Everybody settled down for the night, satisfied with their day.

And just before they were about to slip in to the thick comfort of their dreams, "I love you, Julia," whispered Atticus to his love.

"I love you too," she whispered back as she grasped his hand.

And the Five ancients fell asleep in together. They were always together, for an ancient could never survive for long without the comfort of his own kind.

With a great, cold gust of wind their tent toppled. And all five of them woke up just as they saw the red streaks of magic headed straight for them. Only to be intercepted by Brody's wards.

They stood up with a shock, adrenaline pumping through them as they posed for combat, their wands drawn.

They glanced cautiously to each other, as no other curses shot out of the forest.

Marcus whispered something under his breath and two lights came from the woods, marking their attackers, they all sent their own stunners or disarmers at the two lights, but both lights went out just before their spells could hit their marks.

"Must have disaperated," said Atticus, twisting around to see if they were being approached by the rear.

Shouting came from across the clearing, there were muggles held in the air by a bunch of wizards in dark cloaks. Two of them looked like children.

"We have to help them!" shouted Julia, jumping past the wards.

"NO!" the others shouted after her. Atticus sprinted forward and grabbed her by the collar of her shirt.

"We need to leave, if someone knows we are here…" He never finished his sentence as a blue hex blew him forward fifteen feet, landing him in the ground with a scream.

"Atticus!" screeched Julia.

Brody and Marcus shot spells in the direction of the enemy. Clemens rushed to Julia and Atticus.

Atticus blinked awake, opening his eyes just long enough to see to shots of green hit his brother and Brody, both falling to the ground in an eerie silence.

In a split second he realized what happened, his heart stopped, everything seemed to stop. Except everything hadn't stopped, the two attackers as if they were black smoke, swept up Julia and Clemens before disappearing.

Atticus, possessed by an inhuman strength, scrambled to the side of his brother.

"Marcusss…Marcus please," he cried, grasping his brother's hand. The ancient's leader still held the look of determination as he always did, as if he did not know that death had stopped him once and for all.

Atticus whimpered like a kicked dog between his two fallen companions.

But then stopped, and summoning what courage he had left, he summoned a fire for his companions, the humblest of funeral pyres.

It was as soon as the fire truly raged that Atticus looked up to see the mark in the sky, and in an instance knew its meaning.

"I am Atticus, The Ancient, A son of Superbus, The Final King of Rome. If this lord kills, my friends and my family than there is no place on this earth that can shelter him from me! No magic, no wards, no wall nor monster can slow me, I am an Ancient!" He shouted to the empty sky, the body of his brothers burning, no one ever knowing that two of the most noble Ancients who had ever lived had been murdered that night.` `