Chapter 21: 21 Part 1
After talking with Melody, I threw open the doors to the outdoors. April was approaching, and I breathed in the cool night air. It wasn't as cold and most of the snow had melted into the occasional puddle of slush. I stepped out quietly, closing the door behind me. I took a step forward, aching to change into a wolf and let all the stress go, just run. I had never run in grass before, only snow. I imagined I'd go even faster-
"Roxanne!" The doors flew open and then closed behind me, spitting out a very familiar shape.
I just glared at him, turning quickly, about to morph-
He grabbed my shoulders, pulling me toward him and crashing his lips to mine in a rough kiss, leaving me startled and gasping for breath as he drew away. I suddenly felt cold, and an ache had seeped deep within my, settling between my bones. I stared at him, his expression full of longing and sorrow...he gently cupped my face in his hands, running his calloused thumbs lightly across my cheekbones, making me shiver.
"Why do you have to do this without me?" He whispered softly, his voice breaking. "Bloody hell Roxanne, I can barely tie my shoes in the morning knowing that I won't get to hear your voice that day-so dammit, what gives you the right to think you can reach into the realms and bring back Fred and Tonks without me?" His voice cracked, but I could tell he was only angry at himself.
"I don't know," I said softly. "I thought you didn't care."
He pulled me against him, pressing his lips to my forehead and encircling his arms around me, holding me to him tightly. I pressed my face into his neck, making him let out a groan.
"You know why we need to stay on the same side of this?" He pulled back slightly to look at me.
"Why?" I asked.
"Because wolves mate for life." A devilish grin crossed his face, and my cheeks flamed red. "Well, you know what I mean. I'm not saying I want to-ah-sleep with you or anything-I mean-I mean I do!" He blurted, backtracking. "I mean, only if you want to. I'm trying to say-ahhh, Roxanne, I've loved you the minute I got to know you and I haven't stopped since," he sighed helplessly, running his fingers through my hair. "So...I want to help. I want to help you always, with any problem you'll ever had. Basically you can just put me on speed-floo in your fireplace because I am always going to be there, always, to annoy you and fight with you-"
"What about all those girlfriends?" I burst out. "Lucy Brookes, those girls you snogged and dated-"
"Every single one of those girls I went out with to make you jealous. To get you to notice me. For the longest time you looked at me with nothing in your eyes except friendship and it was bloody torture," he groaned, pulling me even tighter to him.
"Well," I said slowly, placing a hand on the back of his neck. "Now you must know...that I love you too. You should have known for a long time, you idiot," I said happily, and reached up to kiss him.
His lips worked furiously under mine, our arms encircling each other. This was unlike any of the other kissing we'd done before; this was desperate, passionate, like we'd never see each other again.
I broke apart from him, gasping and resting my forehead against his.
"As much as I'd love to continue," I said breathlessly. "We've got a big day tomorrow...today's the twentieth, Stefan." And he nodded solemnly, the reality of things settling over us like a dark sheet.
I closed the door softly behind me with a click. I took a deep breath, trying to calm my frazzled nerves.
I'd walked her alone, to the Room of Requirement, as if in a dream. Barely hearing anything, the laughter and talking of the other students like garbled streams of sound in the background. Now it was all sinking into perfect, horrible clarity; my palms were clammy, my whole body covered with nervous sweat. I could hear the beat of my heart thump thump thump. Thump thump thump thump. And my ears were ringing. I had a nagging feeling about the dream I'd had last night; I couldn't quite remember it, but somehow I knew it had something to do with Dom.
The Room of Requirement was empty, and it was currently a completely blank, wooden-floored room with high-raftered ceilings, the plastered walls white and covered in dust. Thick cobwebs filled the corners, and as I sat onto the ground, dust particles flew up into the air. I took a deep, shuddering breath and carefully set down the two spellbooks in front of me.
I had come half an hour early; it was only eleven, and Stefan and I had agreed to meet at eleven-thirty.
I couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to go wrong; I knew Melody was waiting nervously in the common room, sitting watch in one of the chairs before the fire.
Everything's going to be fine, Roxanne. This is just like any other time, any other practice. Just remember the spells. When the time comes, you'll know which ones are Fred and Tonks. You'll feel it.
The last words she had spoken to me before I left rang through my head, and a shiver ran through my body. A small shriek burst out of my lips and I whirled in shock as the door opened and closed behind me. Stefan. Now that he was in, I silently communicated to the room that the need for the door was over.
The wall folded in on itself, covering the entrance until it was nothing but smooth, white wall.
Stefan coughed as he sat down across from me, eyeing the room. He was pale, which made the dark smudges under his eyes stand out even more. It looked like he hadn't slept at all last night.
Then, like something had lit up in my mind, I remembered my dream about Dom last night. We were back on that plane, from Victoire and Ted's almost wedding, except the plane was about to crash. And Dom threw herself out the window telling Victoire "I told you...I told you I'd make it up to you."And in that way of dreams, somehow the plane stopped and we were all saved, but Dom was gone. I told myself that it was just a dream, that Dom wasn't even here, but I was already scared of what was going to happen today and the dream just added more stress.
Stefan silently reached for my hand and we linked fingers; I was thankful for the heat that passed to my freezing hands.
"Ready?" He spoke finally, breaking the silence. I sucked in a breath; it was all starting to feel very real now, and fear tightened in the pit of my stomach.
"As I'll ever be," I whispered hoarsely, my mind full of Death Eaters and Voldemort. I wished Fred had made some attempt to communicate with me over the last few days...but he was strangely silent. I had heard nothing.
Stefan began to chant the spells and I could concentrate on nothing but his voice and the way the air was rippling around me; for the first time, I had my eyes open, and the walls began to spin around us, darkening and enclosing us for a brief moment before expanding again.
I realized Stefan had stoped chanting; when he opened his eyes, we were in a different place.
"What?" He blurted, and I released his hands in confusion.
"We're in Hogwarts," he murmured, standing up and spinning around. "The Great Hall."
All of the house banners were gone and the atmosphere of the normally enchanted ceiling was absent as well; now the normal ceiling looked empty, unnatural. I couldn't remember a time when the sky and the floating candles weren't there.
All the color seemed to be drained out of the room, leaving black shadows lurking in every corner, contrasting from the harsh light streaming in from the windows near the ceiling.
Other than us, it was empty.
"Let's do the Anchor-Seeker spell," Stefan said in a strange voice, gripping my hand. "Roxanne...this doesn't feel right. Why are we solid-"
"It's been like that for a while," I interrupted. "Fred told me it was because we were getting closer to the 21st and the barrier between both worlds was growing thinner. Now I guess it looks like Hogwarts because...because the barrier's so thin that..." I trailed off.
We quickly recited the spell, and there was a flash of light. When I opened my eyes, Stefan was gone and the familiar circle of light connected to my wrist was the only thing left.
Despite the fact that I knew he was still here, still connected to me, I suddenly felt very, very alone.
It was eerily quiet.
The doors to the Great Hall were closed, and I sprinted forward, flinging them open. The corridors, too, were empty. This was like a bad dream; the further away I ran from the Great Hall, the more confused I became. The corridors were dark and twisted, everything in a different space. The walls were empty of portraits, and devoid of any sign of life. I couldn't shake the feeling that something, over my shoulder, was following me.
Out of the corners of my eyes, I began to see movement in the shadows. Something was coming.
My skin crawled, and I let out a scream, drawing myself up against the cold brick wall and pulling out my wand with a shaking hand.
"Who's there?" I screamed to the empty space in front of me. It was like a different castle that I was in, this cold, dark and unfamiliar place couldn't be Hogwarts...I could hear my heart beating loudly in my ears-no. That wasn't a heartbeat.
Footsteps.
"Heeeeelp!" Came a small voice from down one of the corridors and I peeled myself away from the wall, peering down the endless hall.
Careful, Roxanne, Stefan's voice warned in my mind. It might be a Death Eater.
I didn't reply, but I kept my wand out. I could see a small form running toward me in the distance, head bent down and arms pumping. But it wasn't growing any closer. I took a step into the hallway, shading my eyes from the harsh light flooding in from the windows. Why wasn't he getting any closer?
I whirled behind me. Something had just tapped my shoulder...
I turned back around, and let out a bloodcurling scream. The boy loomed over me, eyes completely black-no whites, even-and glittering with malice.
Then he shrank back down as I fell to my knees, letting out a terrified sob.
"I'm sorry," he said tentatively, touching my shoulder. I flinched away from him; he looked like a normal child now, despite the fact that he had been a giant, evil apparition a moment ago. My brain was so terrified that I didn't realize he couldn't be a child, there were no children at the Battle of Hogwarts.
"I didn't mean to frighten you," he continued in that clear, childlike voice. I stood quickly on trembling legs, reaching a hand out to steady myself against a wall.
"Who are you?" Someone else was talking; someone with a steady voice, certainly not me. But it was me, it had my voice.
"What's this?" The boy didn't answer my question, just fingered the strand of light that I knew connected me to Stefan.
Roxanne! Stefan's voice sounded like a scream in my head.
"How can you see that?" I whispered as the boy touched the glowing strand, looking up at me with a smirk. For a moment, the whites in his eyes disappeared and they flooded with black. But I blinked, and it was gone. "How can you see that?" I shouted, grabbing the boy's shoulder. There was something off about him...the lines of him were blurring, and it looked like he was growing.
He continued to carefully handle the thread, not responding to me.
"Stop that," I demanded, trying to pry his fingers off. "Stop it!"
With a sudden, violent tug, he pulled on the thread and I felt something snap inside me.
Someone was screaming, a high-pitched voice...I realized it was me. I clamped my hands over my ears, my forehead touching the ground. I was breathing hard, my ears ringing. When I looked up, the boy was gone. The glowing string around my wrist shrivelled and dimmed, crumbling and blowing away like dust.
Stefan appeared in front of me, eyes squeezed shut and hands around his ears.
"Stefan!" I gasped, taking his wrists. "Stefan, it's me!" He jerked away from me, letting out a gasp. When he opened his eyes, he only relaxed slightly.
"Uhhh," he groaned, and I began to pull him.
"Come on," I said, my voice high and frightened. "Come on, we've got to go! We've got to get out of here!"
Fred! I screamed in my mind. Fred! Tonks! Can you hear me?
"RUUUN!" Came a deep, bellowing voice from behind us. Stefan and I jumped to the side, our hands tightly entwined. A middle-aged man with olive green robes ran past, a terrified look on his face. "They're coming, the bad ones!" He screamed over his shoulder.
"What? Who's coming? What bad ones?" I yelled after him.
"The other ones are here!" Was the last thing he yelled before he vanished around a corner.
"The bad ones?" I echoed, confused. I heard Stefan's sharp inhale of breath and he let go of my hand, stepping away from me.
"What is it?" I turned towards him.
"We need to go," he said firmly. "I didn't think-I didn't think-oh, noooo," he groaned. "Roxanne, listen to me, please, I only gave it to them so they'd promise not to hurt Fred or any of your other cousins, I never thought they'd actually get in, they only had weeks-"
"Wait, stop," I interrupted, a feeling of dread stealing over me and clutching at my heart. "Stefan, what are you talking about? To whom did you give what?"
He shook his head silently, looking horrified. "I only did it to protect you," he whispered, and at that moment I began to hear voices.
"-was difficult to master, especially given the time frame we had to work with, but then again, we are exceptionally powerful wizards!" A deep laugh followed the disturbingly familiar voice. Something nagged at me, at the back of my mind; who was that?
And then they rounded the corner; three unfamiliar men and...Nikola and Nadia. What could they be possibly doing here? My breath left me with a whoosh, and my heart dropped to the pit of my stomach like I was falling out of the sky.
"Son!" Nikola announced suddenly, catching sight of us. I looked behind me, confused...what was he talking about? I looked at Stefan, whose face was chalk-white, expressionless.
"Come here, Stefan," he held out his hand and Stefan took a lurching step forward, like he was in a dream. My eyes bugged out of my head and I tugged on Stefan's hand, numb.
"What are you doing?" I hissed, tugging him back. He gave me a quick glance, his dark eyes wide in his pale face. He didn't speak, but gently detached himself from my hand and took another step forward. Then stopped.
"Come here," Nikola waved Stefan again over patiently. What? Nikola...why was he calling Stefan son?
My eyes flickered to Nadia; I was in a daze. Had I really never noticed how much Nadia and Stefan resembled their Headmaster?
"Stop!" I yelled, springing forward and clutching Stefan's arm. "What are you doing? He's evil!" I screamed, digging in my heels. I wasn't going to let Stefan go forward, he obviously didn't know what was going on-
"He's my father," Stefan said numbly, without inflection. "Roxanne, let go."
Then it all clicked into place in a horrible, grim puzzle. Nikola and Nadia were here because-
"You gave them the spell book," I said slowly, and my hands slowly slid off Stefan's arms as the horror of realization sank in. "You didn't lose it like you told me...you gave it to them."
"Of his own free will," Nikola commented smoothly, examining his fingernails.
"You told me it was so they wouldn't hurt any more of my family," I whispered, my eyes pleading. "Tell me it's not true! You said you didn't want to, didn't think they'd make it here-you told me-"
"Oh, is that what he said?" Nikola let out a deep laugh and the three Death Eaters leered at me. "That's even better than what we'd planed! Stefan always was a slippery one. I knew he'd turn out all right eventually. Well, he's been lying to you, Roxanne. All year. He was assigned to you to watch you, to see if you knew anything about the shields. That's the only reason he befriended you, the only reason we came to this wretched school in the first place. International cooperation, my-"
"Kingsley trusted you!" I screamed at the Durmstrang Headmaster, and lifted my hands. The walls on either side of us began to shake, crumbling and cracking. My mind was engulfed with fury, and I turned to Stefan, enraged.
"And you betrayed me!" I screamed at him, making him stumble backwards with wide eyes.
"No, Roxanne, he's twisting the story-please, if you'll let me explain-"
"Stefan." Nikola's voice was quiet, but the threat was clear underneath it. "Stefan, your mother would be so disappointed in you. You're throwing away your life if you chose not to stand with us. You will be an outcast, a disgrace-" Stefan stumbled backwards like Nikola's voice was a physical thing.
"Stop!" I shrieked at Stefan and he jumped away from me, startled.
"See, even she does not want you," Nikola laughed and I screamed at him, bringing my hands out in front of me. "Ahhhhhh!" Chunks of stone from the walls whipped forward and floated in front of me, my hands holding them up. Wind swirled around me, lifting my hair and robes. The smug smile wiped right off of Nikola's face. All six of them looked at me in shock, and Nikola shouted something at Stefan that looked like-
You didn't tell us she could do this.
But that was the last thing I saw before I clapped my hands together, and all of the fury and betrayal that had been churning inside me exploded outward, and a wave of pure shock rolled over the Death Eaters and Stefan, Nadia, and Nikola.
They collapsed, and like I was connected to them, I collapsed as well. I blinked several times, my vision hazy, before blacking out.
When I woke back up, I was in the Room of Requirement, Stefan's slumped-over form in front of me; he was still in the Realms. I began to tremble, letting out shaking gasps.
Stefan was Nikola's son...and he was evil. He'd lied to me the whole year, he'd given the book to Nikola when he told me he'd lost it...he was in on the plan the whole time. He was trying to bring Death Eaters back, just like his father. Just like his father.
Time for Plan B. What was Plan B? I didn't know, I was going to have to make it up as I went along. I hadn't exactly planned on Stefan's betraying me.
I returned to the realms as quickly as I could and when I did, I landed straight in the middle of a battle. How much time had passed since I'd been here last?
Wizards and Death Eaters whirled around me, locked in mortal combat. Spells whizzed over my head, crashing and slamming into walls and people, shouted incantations and screams of pain filling the air.
"Roxanne!" I heard my uncle's yell; and there he was, standing on a pile of rubble and fending back two Death Eaters, just like in the real Battle of Hogwarts.
I stumbled forward...why was everyone using magic? There wasn't supposed to be magic-
"My father did this," Nadia spit at me, grabbing onto my shoulder with sharp nails, eyes flashing. "He lifted the spell that took away magic; now everyone can use it again. It's all thanks to you, really," she grinned widely and I pulled out my wand and quicker than she could say another word I blasted her backwards with a Stupefying spell, staring at her unconscious body for a split second before sprinting forward, towards Fred.
"Fred!" I cried out, hitting a Death Eater with a jinx from behind and leaping over a huge chunk of rock. My uncle grabbed my arms before I stumbled, pulling me up next to him.
"Roxanne! You weren't supposed to come, I sent you out!" He said angrily, glaring at me. "When you were unconscious, I made you leave and you weren't supposed to be able to come back-"
"What?!" I yelped, eyes wide.
"Duck!" My uncle suddenly shouted and I dropped to the pile of rubble we were standing on as Fred fired a orange spell over my head, nailing in the chest a Death Eater who had been silently climbing behind me.
"I tried to make you stay at Hogwarts!" Fred continued, yelling, and we both spun around to ward off several Death Eaters. There were so many; at least fifteen, though it seemed like a hundred. And there had to be more, somewhere.
"I told you I'd come!" I yelled back, and suddenly I was hit with a curse. Next thing I knew I was on the ground, frozen, a hulking Death Eater advancing toward me. I tried to scream, tried to reach for my wand...I couldn't move a muscle. I screamed inside my head, but the Death Eater only drew closer, leering, hands reaching out towards me-
"Stupefy!" A feral yell sounded and the Death Eater went stumbling backwards, collapsing on the ground. I couldn't move my eyes to see who my savior was, not until he stepped into my line of view.
Stefan.
"Transferam immobulus," he pointed his wand at me, and suddenly I could move again. I flew to my feet, felling and pounding my fists on his chest. My vision was blurry, and I realized with a start I was crying.
"How could you!" I screamed, still hitting him. He stood there, not moving, not saying anything. I wanted to wipe that stupid grim expression right off his face-
"Roxanne, stop!" He pleaded, taking my elbow. I wrenched myself violently out of his grip, kicking him hard in the groin.
He let out a moan and sank to his knees, looking up at me with watering eyes.
"I-don't-blame-you," he gasped, face red and shining with sweat. "I-would-do-the-same." I cocked my head, confused.
"You're asking for more, Nikola?" I snarled, kneeling down at him. "Where did you come up with the name Leonov, did you pull it right out of your-"
"It was my mother's maiden name," he gasped, lurching to his feet. I rose to my feet quickly as well, feeling naked and exposed without my wand. To my surprise, Stefan pressed the cool, familiar wand into my hand. I glared at him, snatching it away.
"No matter how much you try to pretend, it will never change that you betrayed m-everyone." My voice shook, and he reached out for me-
"No," I snapped, stepping away. "Don't touch me." I whirled away, running. I had seen Nikola slip away here, and I planned to follow him. I ran through corridors, trying to quiet my breathing. I was sure they could hear my pounding heartbeat, my slapping footsteps, and had hidden so I could run past them and were waiting to ambush me.
However, for once in this day, I was lucky.
I pulled myself up short before they turned to see me and pressed myself into the wall, hidden in the shadows.
"-appeared in the Great Hall, Stefan told me," Nikola was talking to the Death Eaters on either side of him. "That's where it will have to take place."
What would have to take place?
I continued to follow them as silently as I could, adrenaline pumping through my veins and making everything else slow down while my own movements sped up.
"How long will it take, Nikola?" One of the Death Eaters grunted.
"It won't be speedy, I can assure you that. You'll both stand guard, and I'll start the ritual. I admit I had my doubts about my son pulling through, but it seems he did his job just as well as Nadia. The girl never suspected that I was their father, and she never knew we had the book. My daughter and I have been going through rigorous practices to ready our minds and bodies to travel into this realm, all for the purpose to bring you all back."
"If I may be so bold as to question our savior," the second Death Eater spoke up. "Why go through all this trouble? Why come all the way to Hogwarts just to find out about the shields, and then bring us back?"
"Why, dear Avery," Nikola began, clapping him on the shoulder before pushing the doors to the Great Hall open, sweeping his hand forward and letting the two men enter before him. "I want power. I want followers. And the whole damn wizarding world is so scared from the last Dark Lord that none of them listen to any reason, and the Ministry's still so tied up hunting down anyone with the slightest tie to the Dark Arts that I can't live the way I want to. I can't give my children the world I hoped. A world free of filth, of half-breeds and muggles and mudbloods...I want a world run by wizards. Voldemort was weak; he failed. I will not. Let the world witness the power of Grigor Nikola!" He let out a booming laugh as I continued to follow behind him at a safe distance. My heart was pounding, limbs shaking as his plan sunk in-he wasn't after Voldemort, but he wanted to replace him-he wanted his followers-
"Starting," Nikola continued, suddenly swivelling around until his wand was pointed right at me. "Starting with Miss Roxanne Weasley."
I was lifted off my feet and blown backwards; I hit the wall hard, and crumpled to the floor.