Hi everyone. It's been a while. Three months, to be exact.

… I'm sorry.

Does anyone remember this story? You know, it's the one with fully-grown Shikamaru who goes to Hogwarts to find missing-nin? With a feuding Temari and two kids? You know, that story?

None? I expected as much, seeing as I've been away for so long and all. Reread a bit of the last chapter and hopefully you'll get up to date.

.

On a completely different note: Naruto chapter 614.

Oh. My. God. I just stared at the last page, unable to believe it, and then just randomly started sobbing my eyes out. First time I ever cried reading a manga, but there you go. *Name of character who died* PLEASE COME BACK!

Those who follow the manga should know who I'm talking about. His death just totally screws up like half my fanfictions. AND HE WAS AN AWESOME CHARACTER!

I was wondering whether or not Kishimoto was going to be realistic and kill off some of our favourites, seeing as it is a war and all… But now I've decided that I hate realism. BRING HIM BACK!

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Chapter Ten: Grief ~ The Red Witch Appears

Once again, once more, an emergency staff meeting had been called. This time, even Shikamaru couldn't escape the spotlight that he had been thrust under.

He sat, as per usual, next to Umbridge, like at the High Table. Professor McGonagall was opposite him, and her hawk-like eyes often flashed to his face, her glare beady and mistrusting.

Professors Sinistra, Sprout, Babbling and Flitwick were unusually silent, all four waiting for Dumbledore to speak. Professors Hagrid and Trelawney was both speaking very loudly, Hagrid trying to tell everyone about the fire he had seen burning just half an hour ago down in the Forbidden Forest, and Trelawney wailing and predicting the death of everyone in the room.

Professor Snape sat with his hands folded, his face livid and his mouth pressed into a thin white line. He eyed the rest of the teachers with disdain and then finally rested his gaze on Dumbledore, who was staring at the table as if it held all the answers.

"What you find?" Shikamaru asked quietly.

His voice cut through all the noise, and the teachers fell silent, looking at either Dumbledore or Shikamaru. The jounin knew that this meeting wasn't called simply for the two missing-nin that had appeared in Gryffindor Tower, but for a much bigger problem that had just been uncovered.

He had heard screaming and shrieking as he and Professor McGonagall exited the common room, and a few seconds later, Dumbledore's voice had boomed magically all over the school.

Professor McGonagall regarded Shikamaru with a complex expression on her face, and then she finally said, "Come, Professor Nara. We're going to see Albus."

Shikamaru sighed inwardly and followed her, but before he had taken more than three steps, a loud cry drifted up from the grounds. He and the Transfiguration teacher hurried over to the window where they spotted Hagrid running out of the Forbidden Forest. Even at this distance, they could both see that his face was drained of blood and that his massive hands were shaking hard.

"Somebody!" he yelled. "Someone come down 'ere! There are bodies! I found bodies!"

The shock and grief in his voice was palpable and the two adults froze for a second before they both sprung into action, running down to the grounds themselves.

But just as they reached the bottom of the staircase, Dumbledore's voice was heard all over the castle.

"All students will return to their common rooms immediately. All teachers will converge in the teachers' staff room without delay."

It was barely eight in the morning; classes had been cancelled, and everyone was tense and frustrated.

"You want to know what we found, Nara?" Snape snarled, dropping his title and baring his teeth at Shikamaru. The jounin had never seen Snape look so shaken up. His face was pale and his fingers trembled. Shikamaru stared back at him calmly and said, "What?"

"Four bodies," said Dumbledore. His voice was very, very soft, but underneath it all a terrible, bubbling fury was evident. Dumbledore barely looked in control; his blue eyes had lost their warmth, and his frame, though bent with old age, was quivering. His jaw was hard and sparks kept shooting out of the end of the Headmaster's wand.

Shikamaru finally saw why Dumbledore was so feared and respected. This man–this wizard–was so powerful. Shikamaru could see that now. Underneath all the merriment and chuckles hid the shadow of an awful beast. He knew that if Dumbledore wanted to, he could wipe out the population of Hogwarts with a simple, murmured word.

"Four bodies," Shikamaru repeated. He struggled to keep his emotions at bay, struggled to reign in the shock that was spreading through his body. He tried to keep himself distant, to analyse it like an uncaring third-party observer.

"Would they happen to be the bodies of Sam Recklore, Marietta Edgecombe, Seamus Finnigan and Gina Foremann?" Shikamaru asked, his voice vague. He knew who the second year Hufflepuff was. He had just remembered his name to be Sam Recklore.

"Three out of four, you got right," Dumbledore said. His voice was equally faint, his eyes unfocused. "The fourth is not Marietta Edgecombe."

Shikamaru head snapped up. "Then who?" he asked in confusion.

"Cho Chang."

Shikamaru stared at Dumbledore, his mouth slightly open. Then, he drew back and slumped against the spine of his chair with a bitter laugh. "My calculation incorrect; I believe that it was Edgecombe-san, not Chang-san."

"You knew about this?" Professor Sprout finally said. Her voice was incredulous, and Shikamaru saw, to his numb surprise, that she was on the verge of crying. "You knew about these bodies?"

"No," Shikamaru said sharply. "I not know. But I know there were fakes. I not think about the real ones."

He buried his face into his hands, heaving a shuddering breath. How could he have forgotten? Why had he forgotten about the actual people whom the missing-nin were impersonating?

"Were they burned?" Shikamaru asked suddenly.

"No," said Hagrid. His voice was thick. "They were jus'… buried. I was tryin' ter find some creatures fer my next class… then I came 'cross some overturn' dirt. Though maybe I migh' find somethin' there, you know. Some animals like ter bury their treasure. Dug it up… then…"

Hagrid broke off and tears leaked out of his beetle-black eyes. Professor Flitwick hesitated, and then patted him tentatively on the arm.

"Albus… what are we going to tell the students?" Professor McGonagall whispered. "Four deaths… it's so…"

"Four deaths not be a lot," Shikamaru said, his voice barely audible, "if this goes on."

Dumbledore finally looked at Shikamaru, and once he did, his form seemed to swell with anger. "This is your fault," Dumbledore said, his voice strained. "You were the one who brought these ninja here. I. Want. You. Out. NOW!"

Shikamaru did not falter when he stared back at Dumbledore, but his eyes lowered a fraction. "Yes, is my fault. I should've spent more time looking. But my guess is: the four students have been dead for more than a week. Even before the Ho-gu-wart-su Express left station eight days ago… But remember this: who is the one who does not let me into Hogwarts to look for them, eh?"

Dumbledore stared at Shikamaru wordlessly for a second. Then, another spark flew out of the wizard's wand.

"Albus, no," Professor McGonagall said through her teeth when she saw the Headmaster's arm rise. "Albus, get a grip!"

"Cursing me no get rid of them," Shikamaru said, looking at Dumbledore evenly. "You need me. I is the only one who can eliminate them."

"Headmaster," Professor Sinistra said warningly.

"Calm down," Professor Flitwick said.

"If you kill him, you'll regret it," Professor Trelawney whispered.

Dumbledore seemed to struggle with himself for a second, and then he lowered his arm.

"Get…. out… of here," Dumbledore said. His voice was cracking and his fingers were clenched against his forehead. "Get out of my sight."

"As you wish," Shikamaru said. His tone was flat, and as he performed the hand seals for a quick escape, Professor Umbridge, who had been silent all through the meeting, asked, "Who exactly are you?"

Her voice was no longer sweet, but businesslike, and her pouchy toad eyes were glaring at him.

"I…" Shikamaru murmured, but then paused. Raising his eyes to meet Dumbledore's, he said, "I is just a foreign inspection professor, Umbridge-sensei."

Sighing to himself, Shikamaru had gotten away and now stood in front of the portrait of the Fat Lady. She stared down at him curiously, but evidently word of his position in this situation had not spread to other parts of Hogwarts just yet.

Quickly giving her the password, Shikamaru went inside. He had left his pack there, and he needed it back, especially since it contained some important information.

What he didn't expect, though he should have, was a very full common room filled with inquisitive little brats who did not understand the phrase, 'None of your business.'

"Shikamaru," called a voice. Shikamaru picked out Harry from the crowd and he headed towards him. The boy held his pack and Shikamaru took this gratefully. "What's happen-?"

"Your Headmaster got angry at me and now want me to piss the fuck off," Shikamaru said. There, that was his condition in a nutshell. He sighed deeply. "Four students is confirm dead."

"What?" Harry gaped. Shikamaru had accidently said this louder than he intended, and now fearful whispers spread around the room like ripples. "Who?"

Shikamaru paused, but figured that they would find out soon enough anyway. "Sam Recklore, of second year Hufflepuff; Gina Foremann, of fourth year Slytherin; Seamus Finnigan–" there were audible gasps at this "–of fifth year Gryffindor; Cho Chang–" Shikamaru tried to ignore how horror replaced the expression of shock on Harry's face "–of sixth year Ravenclaw."

"Ch-Cho?" Harry stammered. Shikamaru looked at the boy regretfully, and put a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry," Shikamaru said quietly. Without another word, he disappeared in a pool of smoke.

The four dead students were laid on the lawn where further instructions would be issued on what to do with them. Shikamaru took this chance to see how they were killed, but also to pay his respects.

Sam Recklore was a tiny little boy. Dark brown hair and lots of freckles across his face, he looked so small and innocent in his huge Hogwarts robes. His throat had been neatly slashed and his blood could barely be seen against the black of his clothing. It stained his face and hands.

Gina Foremann lay stretched out beside Sam. Her blonde hair was matted with dirt and splayed around her head. Unlike Sam, there were no visible wounds on her body, nothing to indicate that she had been hurt. However, when Shikamaru inspected the bodies, he found something extremely strange. Her stomach was bulging out of her shirt, unnaturally so. When Shikamaru raised her shirt and touched it, he felt something soft and decidedly disgusting underneath her skin. For a few minutes, Shikamaru stared at her, nudging her flesh while a few hundred different theories bounced around in his brain. Then, he found a highly possible answer: one of the missing-nin had the ability to rearrange internal organs. What a sickening skill. Shikamaru hoped that he was wrong; he did not want to deal with a shinobi like that.

With his head lolled to the side, Seamus Finnigan had a straightforward cause of death: broken neck. His brown hair had masked most of face, but it did not hide the grotesque angle his neck was lying at. His eyes were open, though speckled with dirt, and they were wide with shock. Shikamaru tried not to look into them.

Finally, Cho Chang rested on her back with an oddly peaceful expression. Shikamaru thought that it was probable that she was placed under a genjutsu at her time of death. If she had such a calm appearance, then would not have been scared when she was killed. There was a hole at her throat, presumably where the attacker had shoved a kunai before pulling it out again. It would have been so quick that Cho would not have felt a thing.

It was here, examining the bodies, that Shikamaru began to form his hypothesises on the personalities of these four missing-nin. For now, he would assume that the four would have killed one student each.

The killer of Sam would probably be someone who did not like to waste time. His knife wound was quick and almost elegant, as if he or she was used to doing this sort of stuff and was bored by it.

For Gina, Shikamaru was guessing a shinobi who was sadistic. He was pretty sure that the rearrangement of organs would be very excruciating, and it appeared that it had been inflicted before death.

A simple and uninterested ninja was Seamus' killer, by the looks of his injuries, as his broken neck was straightforward and not extravagant. Shikamaru was ninety-nine percent sure that this was the doing of Kako.

As for Cho, Shikamaru was willing to bet that her attacker was the type who felt pity for his or her victims, and yet still continued to kill. It was these types of shinobi whom Shikamaru had encountered many times before. However, though the attacker felt remorse over the victims, Shikamaru knew that he or she was a skilled ninja; Cho's stab wound was sure and definite. There was no hesitation.

Shikamaru sighed softly. His analysis of the situation was finished; he just wanted to find Kako now and go home. He surveyed the four bodies once, and then bowed low to them all. With a small apology for not being there in time, Shikamaru turned around and stared up at the castle.

"Mendokuse."

It was hard to believe that Shikamaru had been at Hogwarts for only a week, and already, the place was messed up, screwed over and fucked with.

Just a few hours after the staff meeting, Dumbledore called all students and teachers alike into the Great Hall, where he explained what had happened and what was going to happen next. Four owls had already been sent to the deceased's families, and the next day, funeral services were held.

Shikamaru did not attend this, but spent his time searching for the four missing-nin that had snuck into Hogwarts. He knew about Kako, Masato and Yuji, and he named the fourth as Aika; Yuji had mentioned her.

Piecing all this together, Shikamaru concluded that Kako had picked up students, since Masato had referred to someone as 'Sensei', and that could only be her. Masato and Yuji were obviously pupils, and Aika was the third student.

One week since the discovery of the four bodies had passed, and Shikamaru now stayed out of the way of the Hogwarts population. He dimly remembered at the back of his mind that today was September twenty-second. It was his birthday. He was thirty as of today. Inwardly, he was glad that he had hidden away; no one had to 'celebrate' it with him.

Nobody really saw much of him and during mealtimes, Shikamaru would play 'fishing' with his Shadow Sewing Technique whereby he sat up at the rafters of the Great Hall and hooked food from the tables using his shadows. It was normally so quick that the inattentive students did not know what had disappeared from the plates.

"I wonder if he's alright," said Harry, staring at the place where two legs of chicken had been previously before he had blinked and they had vanished. He did not specify who 'he' was, but both Hermione and Ron knew.

"He'll be fine," said Hermione briskly. "He doesn't look very weak to me."

"No, but still… I have this really weird feeling that Dumbledore blames him for what happened," Harry said, glancing over at the High Table where the Headmaster sat.

"You know what? I agree," Ron said, surprising the two of them.

The absence of the professor from Japan had not gone unnoticed, even amongst the mist of misery that shrouded the castle. Though people questioned, no one had any answers, and Professor Nara was shoved to the backs of people's minds.

Hogwarts seemed to be a very dark place now, and Harry couldn't help but think about the argument he had with Seamus on the first night of term, before reminding himself that it wasn't really Seamus. It had been an enemy.

Dean Thomas was having it worse. The death of his best friend had rattled him to the core, and he now spent his days at the back of the classroom, staring off into space and not concentrating on a word the teachers were saying. In return, none of the teachers had the heart to tell him to listen up as they pitied the boy and left him to his own sorrow. Nothing anyone said made a difference to Dean, and Harry felt, for the first time here, a sense of helplessness descend upon him. Though Dean was not a close friend, he was still a friend, and Harry, seeing him so depressed and downcast, did not know what to do.

Marietta Edgecombe was often seen crying her eyes out in bathrooms and all over the school, often without warning. Sometimes, she would just be staring at a book, when all of a sudden, tears would spring into her eyes and she would have to be taken outside of the classroom to calm down.

One time, Harry had met her in the corridor, and Marietta, seeing Harry, stared at him for a second before she burst into racking sobs. Bewildered and not knowing what else to do, he tried to comfort her.

"Ch-Cho really liked you, you know," Marietta wept as Harry put an arm around her. He stilled, and remorse and sadness erupted in his heart like a volcano. "She–she felt really bad when she turned you down last year at the Ball…"

Stunned into silence and engulfed in melancholy, Harry simply patted her back and said, almost inaudibly, "It's okay."

Sometimes, staring into the fire late at night in the common room, Harry would often ask himself questions. Would something have happened between himself and Cho this year? Would they have gone out? Would they have just remained friends?

All the thoughts almost drove Harry crazy, and though he had only known Cho for a year, only liked her for a year, he felt a strange hole in his chest, directly over his heart. And in those dark nights, despite the warmth of the fire, Harry would feel cold and gloomy, and from time to time, tears fell from his eyes in silent rivers.

He had also witnessed some Slytherins crying over the loss of Gina. Always having thought that the people of the house of snakes were cold and uncaring, Harry was proved drastically wrong when one day, in the Great Hall, a Slytherin girl stood up, shrieked out for everyone to hear, "This isn't fair! This isn't fair!" and stalked out of the silence that suddenly appeared. A second later, her friend got up and followed her, her shoulders shaking visibly.

Hufflepuff were quieter in their show of grief, but it was there, nonetheless. Harry had seen them work doubly hard, all Hufflepuffs filling up the library and dragging homework down to mealtimes. One day, when he asked Ernie Macmillan why they were studying so much, he had simply said, "This is our way of remembering Sam Recklore. As a house, though we are not as intellectually smart as Ravenclaws, as brave as Gryffindors nor as cunning as Slytherins, we are loyal and work harder than the rest. This is our way of paying tribute to Sam."

And for the first time, Harry saw almost no rivalry between the houses. This incident–this tragic, tragic incident–had drawn the houses together in their sorrow. They were all mourning, all anguished by the loss of four fine witches and wizards, that unconsciously, they had huddled a little closer in an effort to diminish their pain.

Kako and her students had disappeared from the castle, further emphasising the emptiness that the dead students left behind now that there was no one to impersonate them. Shikamaru was quite sure that they were not posing as others, as everyone had been warned via Dumbledore about the dangers of the missing-nin. The Hogwarts students did not know the full story, only that there were imposters in the castle and they had to be on the lookout. Now, everyone was wary of everyone else, and though this method worked in eliminating would-be disguisers, it sowed disquiet and unease throughout the castle.

Shikamaru had not appeared again in front of Dumbledore and his staff. Only Professors McGonagall and Snape knew who he really was, and they weren't prepared to say anything. Though Dumbledore knew that the jounin was still there, he simply told the others that Shikamaru had returned to Japan, and that was the end of the discussion.

"It's not fair," Harry said, glaring at the pie he was trying to eat.

"What's not fair?" Ron asked vaguely, staring out the window. He was playing with a spoon, not concentrating on anything. Hermione's sharp eyes darted upwards to Harry's face in an instant, and she frowned.

"Why are you so worried about him, Harry?" Hermione asked. "He's fine."

"I'm not worried. I'm just… I'm not worried," said Harry stubbornly. He stabbed the pie and then left his fork there.

"About Shikamaru, eh?" said Ron. His eyes drifted towards the pair, and he sobered up. "Hermione's right, you know. He'll be fine."

Harry bit his lip, knowing that the reason why he was anxious was seemingly strange. But it was as if Hermione knew his thoughts, and she let out a breath, and said in a resigned voice, "What is it?"

Harry glanced up at her, and found his two friends staring at him intently. His mouth opened and closed for a moment or so, and then everything poured out.

"I haven't seen Sirius happy for a long time," Harry blurted out, but kept his voice to a murmur in case of eavesdroppers. The Great Hall was filled with them. "And–and when I went to Grimmauld Place last holidays… Shikamaru was there… and Sirius looked so damn happy. It's like… like Shikamaru was someone whom Sirius could share all his troubles and stuff without fearing discovery. Lupin only stops by once in a while, and that's not enough. Sirius–Sirius actually had a friend for the first time in a long time. Every letter I write to him, he sends on back, and in his replies, he always asks, 'How is Shikamaru?' Every single one of them."

Harry stopped talking, for fear of Hermione snapping at him because he was sending letters when he wasn't supposed to. But to his surprise, both Hermione and Ron listened without a change in expression, and both took on thoughtful looks. Then, Hermione smiled tenderly at him.

"And you're afraid that if something happens to Shikamaru, then Sirius will get all–"

"Depressed," Ron finished. Harry nodded.

"I mean, I know Shikamaru only knew Sirius for–what?–a month? A little less than that? But the two hit off really well. And I know Sirius will be sad if something happened to Shikamaru," Harry concluded.

"You're worrying over nothing," Ron said airily, leaning back. His features relaxed. "Told you: Shikamaru will be fine."

"For once, I agree with Ronald," Hermione concurred. Her lips curved upwards as she tried to reassure her friend. "He'll be fine. They both will."

"How troublesome," Shikamaru said softly to himself.

He stood quietly in front of the towering trees of the Forbidden Forest, gazing up at them with bored wonder.

I really want to go cloud watching, Shikamaru thought longingly. Maybe it'll help me forget… But… the mission comes first. Goddammit.

He entered the trees, and as he did so, noticed the immediate hush that befell his surroundings, as if there was a predator loose. The birds stopped squawking, the animals stopped rustling, and the only thing that moved were the rustling branches overhead.

Despite himself, Shikamaru started moving about much more quietly as well (which wasn't very hard for him). He knew that there was something in here that had caused the animals to cease their noises.

Ah, perhaps it was the very strong killing intent that was coming up straight ahead?

Yeah, most likely.

Something slammed into Shikamaru with all the force of a rhino, and the jounin grunted as he threw the weight off. He had already been expecting it, so he had minimal injuries.

"Who the hell are you?" Shikamaru asked lazily, turning to the kunoichi crouching behind him. A name flashed in his mind. "Wait, let me guess: you're Aika, aren't you?"

"Kumori Aika," the girl corrected in a soft, slow voice. Shadowed love song. That was what her name meant.

"Kumori Aika, student of Ohayashi Kako," Shikamaru said. "The missing-nin who killed Sam Recklore, correct?"

The girl straightened up, the leaves barely making a rustle, and ignored his statement. "I am also known as Aka Majo."

"The Red Witch," Shikamaru said dryly. "How fitting."

It really was. Aika had hair the colour of fire and it hung down to her elbows and a long fringe that hid her right eye and came down to her collarbone. Her skin was milky white–almost unnaturally so–and on her ears gleamed earrings that looked like rubies which were carved into character for 'water'. A contradiction. She wore a sash, an apron-like skirt which came down to the bottom of her knees and short skin-tight pants. A sleeveless top that showed too much of her stomach was her only covering for her upper body. She wore fishnets everywhere and the standard shinobi sandals. However, the weirdest thing about her appearance was the wrappings of bandages that covered her neck and half her face. Shikamaru was reminded of Kakashi's mask.

But the scariest thing was her one visible eye, the other being hidden behind her hair. It was pitch-black; no pupil could be distinguished from the iris, and it was very, very cold.

Though Shikamaru could not see Aika's mouth, courtesy of her bandage wrappings, he could almost feel her lips curl in disgust as she eyed him, analysed him, much like he was doing to her. But then, like him, she met his eyes, and perhaps she saw a dangerous opponent in them, for she leaned back and regarded Shikamaru with new respect.

Aika's exterior was one of a weak little female, but Shikamaru knew better. He saw the lean muscles in her arms and legs, saw the calluses on her palms and fingers, saw the experience that Aika held in her posture. Even at first glance, Shikamaru could tell that she was a risky enemy to deal with. The fact that her freezing, depthless eyes displayed no emotion made it even harder for Shikamaru to judge her personality. That, and the fact that the rest of her face was concealed from him as well.

There is dirt encrusted in her sandals and since it hasn't rained recently it must mean that she has been in this forest for a while to get that much mud on herself. Her clothing is both loose and tight… it's hard to determine what combat range she is. Tight clothes are normally worn if someone is a short-range fighter so it does not interfere with their movements, while long-range fighters can wear looser clothing.

Judging by her well-toned muscles, she is more comfortable with hand-to-hand combat, so I assume she's a short-range fighter. Her stance is an echo of the Hyuuga's Juuken pose; perhaps she has a similar ability? Probably, since she has no loose clothes in her upper body area, which means that she uses her hands quite a lot. The skirt thing is loose; maybe she doesn't use her legs as much? Her hair isn't tied up, which means she is extremely comfortable in a battle and does not believe that it will get in the way. Her hands are quite red, which is strange as her general skin tone is very pale. Has she burned herself recently? Perhaps her ability is one that deals with hot substances. That being said, I will assume that her element is fire.

Shikamaru paused in his quick analysis of her as she cocked her head over to one side. All other thoughts except for the important ones flew out of his mind, and Shikamaru tensed as he prepared himself.

"You are a hindrance to my teammates and sensei," Aika said quietly. "I must eliminate you."

"What are you doing here?" Shikamaru demanded. Aika hardly seemed to be the blabbering type of person, but Shikamaru had to try.

"That, Konoha jounin, is none of your business."

Shikamaru sighed. "Fine, then. Kumori-san, would you like to dance?"

The girl seemed to smile at him. With a calculating gleam in her eye, Aika whispered, "Alright. Let's dance."

She lunged forwards with all the grace of a cat, and Shikamaru leapt out of the way just as lithely.

My assumption that she is strong in hand-to-hand combat is true. She is a short-ranged fighter.

Stirring up leaves as she skidded to a halt, Aika twisted around and, using the ground as a lever, pushed herself off and used it to help her gain power. Unlike an idiot, she did not enhance her jump with chakra, knowing that she would have even lesser control over her leap than without it.

She back flipped in mid-air and one hand touched Shikamaru's shoulder and clung on. A sudden, searing heat made Shikamaru gasp out loud and shove her hand off. A few metres away, Aika landed smartly and turned around to look at him, her face as expressionless as ever.

Glancing down at his shoulder, Shikamaru was stunned to see a large hole burned cleanly through the two layers of fabric; the skin underneath was a blistering red, the fibres of his shirt and vest melting into the wound.

And in that one glance, he understood her ability immediately.

I hope you guys don't mind the death of two original Harry Potter characters and two minor OCs.

I think that missing-nin impersonating people will not let the originals live; it's very probable that they would kill them, right? I mean, if the missing-nin let the originals live… then… that'll be really OOC.

Aika is the last of the OCs to be introduced. I really hope you guys aren't overwhelmed or confused about the sudden increase of characters. Don't worry; all major OCs are villains, so you guys don't care, right?

Aka Majo = Red Witch

Aka = red

Majo = witch

I just stuck the two together. I really hope that's kinda/sorta/close to being right…

I also felt as if this moved very quickly. Did it move quickly to you? I'm sorry. I haven't written for quite a while. I think some plotholes have appeared. You guys gave me a lot of feedback, but I'm sorry if none made it into this chapter. I started writing this a few days ago, so naturally the comments from three months ago have sort of faded away. I'm sorry. I'll look over them later.

I noticed that I've apolgised a lot. I'm sorry. I really am.

Updated: 17 January 2013