Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or his world.

I'm just a uni student who owns a major textbook bill.

Chapter 35: I know What You Did

I was released from the conniving clutches of Madame Pomfrey on the second of February.

After I was released we bought Hamish, Tom and Kevin into the common room to tell each other exactly what went down that night. To my astonishment our predicament with discovered identities did not scare the others in the slightest. They were more worried about what we were going to do next now that we couldn't travel as inconspicuously.

I didn't tell Kevin, Tom and Hamish everything. I had told my friends in private the whole story before the group meeting. As much as I loved those lads, I was still wary about just giving away information. For example they still didn't know everything about the Varias inheritance. That was something I was fiercely protective of; some of the more intricate details escaped my friends too. I don't know what had me puffing up my collar and looking at everything suspiciously, maybe it was just a touch of paranoia over a looming day.

I was turning 18 on the 22nd of February.

Never mind that 18 was the age in my family when things seemed to go wrong; Mum met dad when she was 18 and they ran off together and survived on dad's meagre allowance from his parents for his work on the farm. Alexandru had a major accident with a dragon when he was 18 which left him close to death. And my Grandma and Grandpa left the tribe when my grandma was 18 and pregnant; most of their magic leaving them and rendering my infant mother a squib.

So to say I was being a bit wary was a slight understatement.

But anyway, I suppose you want to know what 'The Adam's family' and 'the Avengers' found that day in Knockturn don't you?

Our anonymous source had been correct. 'The Adam's Family' were able to follow Bagman from one end of the alley to a shady looking establishment at the other, which was a freaky looking pub. They'd found it difficult to blend in, but thanks to Ivy's quick thinking, a few choice spells enabled them to. She made Colin and Kevin look like slaves; made them look dirty and transfigured their clothing into ratty rags and put magical chains around their necks.

They'd been able to listen in and caught wisps of conversation between Bagman and his mysterious companion. The intelligence ring was still operating, with those under suspicion from the first war slowly worming their way back into key positions. Apparently the two men were organising something; a major public disturbance of some kind that would shift the Minister's attention away from them and onto a new target.

This wasn't very comforting, especially with the discoveries that 'The Avengers' made at 'The Spiny Serpent'.

Thanks to Alice's ingenuity, they'd been able to get in, though I'd wager not by the way most customers did. But get in they did. They'd been able to get around the store unseen, the store keeper out the back doing something or another which resulted in large bangs every now and then.

The store contained items illegal for trading in the Wizarding world like dragon eggs, human servants and so forth. They'd found the human servants locked in a cage like dogs bellow a notch in the floor boards. If a ministry agent could get in there they'd have a field day and an Auror would probably faint with glee. Alice accidently fell over on their hurry to escape and broke her arm; the shop keeper finally figured out there was someone in the store and came out to see whom it was.

They'd been all horrified to hear what had happened in Borgin and Burkes, but it didn't matter technically because it had been a failed mission; I couldn't prove anything that happened in that store. It was my word against his; me who had used a dodgy potion to conceal my identity and had technically stolen an item from the store. Never mind that I was retrieving it, the Ministry wouldn't care if it came to light. I hadn't technically found anything wrong with the store either.

Sure the items had been pretty dodgy, but they were just that… dodgy. While the 'vibe' of the place wasn't good, and sure you could smell the black magic, there were no legal grounds for search and seizure or arrest. Sure you could search the place, though I doubted the searcher would find what they were looking for.

Dumbledore was quickly informed of what happened and after that day we heard no more of the situation in the alley. It was almost as if Dumbledore had just swept it under the carpet and forgotten about it. It made us slightly frustrated that we'd all risked life and limb just so he could forget about what we told him. We spent the next couple of days - weeks even- totally disillusioned and we even began to question ourselves, doubting if we were doing the right thing.

Ivy turned 19 and two weeks later, I turned 18. Nothing happened despite the caution involved. It was probably the most normal school month of our lives at Hogwarts. It was nice, to be just an average 18 year old; whining about our teachers and procrastinating on homework. It was nice to just have to worry about the wording on an essay or if my hair wasn't sitting right.

February was utterly normal.

So were the first few days of March actually.

That should have been, in essence, the biggest warning sign of them all.

Things began to unravel one chilly March afternoon, one day after Jenifer's 18th Birthday. It was a Quidditch match; a grudge match between the Gryffindor and the Slytherin teams. It was the best fun watching it. I actually made a promise to myself that after I graduated I'd make the effort to go watch a professional game if it was that good. Watching Quidditch was almost as exhilarating as playing it which was saying something. Especially coming from me who hates watching any sport, on the TV or live.

I was giving Alice a piggyback up the hill on the way back to the castle, laughing at Jen as she pulled funny faces at me as she imitated an exotic dancer. I saw Hamish up ahead watching us with a smile. I stuck my tongue out at him and he laughed, giving me the two fingered salute. I laughed, my mouth open in amused O before I flipped him the bird.

I saw something black high up in the sky; it stood out immensely against the blue. I frowned, wondering what it could be, but Alice quickly distracted me from her position on my back, grabbing my ears and urging me to go faster. The black item in the sky was quickly forgotten.

I didn't figure out what it was until later that afternoon. Alice, Jen and Ivy had rushed off to the library to finish an assignment that was due the next day, an assignment which I had finished days ago. Will was off crawling to Snape; trying to get out of being pinned as the perpetrator of a student uprising in the week just past where all the students had imitated Snape at co-ordinated moments. Colin was… I actually don't know where Colin was… but he wasn't in the Overseas Mission dorms.

I was doodling in my notebook by the fire in the girl's bedroom when a sharp tapping on the window frightened me. I must have leapt about fifty feet before I swung around to see what had been disturbing the peace. I locked eyes with the most evil looking bird I've ever seen. It was jet black and looked to be a cross between a hawk and a raven. I looked at it warily, drawing my wand as I slowly walked towards the window.

When I reached the window seat I paused, and the bird and I had a stare off. I lost. I tapped the window, trying to scare the bird away when I caught sight of an envelope tied to one claw. I frowned. Odd. I hardly ever got letters. If I did it was either via AV's phoenix, my grandma's kooky old barn owl or the little white puff ball that mum had bought so she could keep in contact with me at school.

So to say I opened the window cautiously was a bit of an understatement; I opened it as if I was about to set off an atomic bomb. When I'd opened the window a bit, the bird made an odd sort of cawing-growl and hopped inside onto the sill. We had another stare off, and I won this time. The bird impatiently stuck out its leg. I looked at it for a few more seconds with a raised eyebrow and then slowly reached out to take the letter.

I'd gotten the letter and was pulling away my hand when the bird lunged forward and clamped its beak around my hand. I felt it tear through the skin and I screeched. I tried to pry the bloody thing off my hand but it bit down harder. Tears pooled in my eyes. I howled and slammed my hand- bird and all- against the wall hard. The bird screeched and let go. It flew away and left me with a savaged hand and a horrified expression.

I looked down at my hand and pulled a face. "Son of a bitch!" I swore loudly to the empty room. I ran to my trunk and kicked it open with my foot, my right hand trying to stop the blood flow. I used my right elbow to fish around for the jar I was looking for. Finding it, I gave a victory whoop then leant forward and picked it up between my teeth.

Standing awkwardly I walked to my bed and spat it out. With a muttered spell I opened the jar. Moving my hand, I scooped out a huge dollop of the weird looking paste inside and put it on the wound. The pain immediately went. I breathed an instant sigh of relief. The paste was a blood clotting salve with a pain killer potion mixed in. It had been a part of my birthday gift from Alexandru. He had told me when he gave it to me that it was useful, for I never knew what daily trouble I might get myself in. It was just another instance when the old man was right.

The salve worked quickly and I was amazed at it's effectiveness. I conjured a bandage and wrapped the wound so the salve could continue to work. After my hand was bandaged I looked over at the black envelope which lay forebodingly on the floor. I must have looked at it for a while, though how long I didn't know. Eventually, my curiosity got the better of me and I crawled across the bed and swiped it.

I looked the envelope over, flipping it over in my palm. The seal was unfamiliar but gut wrenchingly obtuse; it was forest green, the insignia showing the dark mark. I swallowed nosily. Flipping the envelope back over my name was splashed across the front in silver ink. Ileana MacKay.

I knew it couldn't be anything but trouble. But I opened it with shaking hands anyway, it was a rather long letter considering the thin envelope, but I truthfully didn't give much coherent thought after I read the first line.

You are an insult to your family's name.

A disgrace to the name of wizard.

How did you think that we would not discover your identity? That your 'plan' would work? You are an infant in the world; your juvenile attempts at heroism are laughable if not stupid. Believe me MacKay, if we were truly trying to dispose of you, you would last barely a minute. As it is, our amusement at your previous 'outings' has overridden our response to your actions, but now, we are growing tired of it.

No hero shall be at your assistance MacKay; you need to take responsibility for your own actions.

Consider this letter your only warning.

We are coming for you MacKay.

We know what you did; what item is currently in your possession.

We will have it.

There is no place on this earth you could hide it from us that we cannot find; no place we have not already infiltrated.

Your hands are tied.

It is only a matter of time before we come for you. You cannot hide under the barmy old fool's protection forever.

We will smoke you out like the rat that you are.

Once we dispose of you, your little friends will be next.

We are watching you. We are waiting for you. We will kill you.

After I finished reading I had enough sense to place the letter in my notebook then move it to the bottom of my trunk before I ran to the bathroom and emptied the contents of my stomach into the toilet.

I was sitting on nails for the next two days, jumping when something moved out of the corner of my eye, refusing to be alone anywhere. The times where I was alone I would begin to shake uncontrollably, my hands shaking so violently that I couldn't physically hold anything. I didn't eat. I didn't sleep. I just lay there at night cowering into my covers.

I refused to close my eyes because I was petrified that in the brief moment when my vision was shut out, someone would break in and grab me.

People were noticing that something was very wrong with me. McGonagall looked at me as if she wanted to admit me to Saint Mungos the first chance she got. Snape just stared, his expression unreadable. Alice kept checking my temperature. Ivy looked at me bemused as I refused to look her in the eye. Jen became almost as jumpy as I was. Will and Colin were just lost.

I knew it had to stop. I knew I had to cure myself of this ridiculous fear.

I was at Hogwarts, the safest place in the world. What could possibly happen to me here? As long as I stayed inside the wards I was fine.

One afternoon I decided enough was enough and after I had finished my class I quickly changed and went to see AV. AV could tell something was wrong, but the old man didn't push it. He just linked his arm through mine and told me promptly we were going for a walk. I just swallowed nervously and nodded, trying to force a smile which I was sure looked more like a grimace.

He tried to distract me.

"I went for a fly this morning. Perfect weather to do so." Alexandru said, with a dreamy smile upwards. The weather had stayed clear the last couple of days. I started. "I didn't know you had a broom Unchi!" I said. He shook his head, his smile widening and his expression turning cheeky.

"I don't Ileana." He said with a chuckle. I stopped walking and turned on him baffled, "then how-?" I began but he threw back his head and laughed, reaching out and linking his arm with mine again, patting my forearm. "Dear one, has the last year taught you nothing? Surely you know by now that not everything in the magical world is black and white!" He said with a chuckle. I frowned, still confused.

"Ileana, I am gifted in the art of transfiguration. I have been since I was a boy. When I was about your age I figured out during my last year at Drumstrang that not all transfigurations are limited to inanimate objects and animals." Alexandru said with a smile. I was slowly piecing it together. "You're an animagus?" I asked amazed. He nodded.

I looked at him, even more in awe of him than I was already. "Could you change for me? So that I can see your form?" I asked eager. He shook his head and chuckled again. "You already have seen it Draga." He said with a grin. I frowned, trying desperately to recall if any animal's behaviour in the past seemed unusual. "No… I don't think I have." I said, shaking my head.

Alexandru looked at me and raised one eyebrow, the corners of his lips upturned. "Dear me you have the memory of a sieve!" he scolded affectionately. I chuckled, slightly chagrined. "It wasn't even that long ago either!" Alexandru protested. I looked at him, knowing he'd tell me. He did.

"Do you remember last year, in January? You were at those funny picture theatres that the muggles have. You were on your own, just having finished a telephone call. I flew down and sat next to you. You talked to me and everything." He said. It clicked immediately, the memory rushing back with the upmost clarity.

My eyes bugged. "You were the Wedgetail?!" I asked shocked. He nodded. I must have been silent in shock for too long because he nudged me with a chuckle. I shook my head amazed. "No way! I knew that eagle was too smart to be ordinary!" I said, remembering it all again. Alexandru chuckled, preening a bit.

I brushed a low hanging branch out of the way as we kept walking, falling back into quiet again. When Alexandru spoke again, I didn't like the topic of conversation. "What has you so distressed Draga? You're walking on nails." He said, and I started again, my eyes stopped darting around. "Nothing's wrong" I said with a strained chuckle. "Everything's perfectly fine." I said, pulling out another false smile.

Alexandru stopped walking abruptly and faced me with his hands on his hips. "Ileana…" he warned, pinning me under his gaze. I shifted uncomfortably and shoved my hands into my pockets. I debated telling him about the letter then realised I'd only be causing him more undue stress and would have to tell him what I'd been really doing over the past 4 months. I did have some sense of self-preservation so I decided to tell him a half truth.

"Something's not right unchi." I said, my voice wavering as I threw another suspicious look around the forest. "I can feel it. Something bad is coming but I don't know, what or when. It's strange…. I'm worried." I admitted, chewing on my bottom lip. His expression grew sympathetic. "It's natural to worry dear one, but you must calm yourself. Getting yourself worked up like this does no good. You'll be useless when the time comes if you are so jumpy." He explained, walking back to me and putting his hands on my shoulders.

I sighed, my eyes fluttering closed. "I'm also worried about the family curse." I muttered, my eyes opening again. He frowned for a second before he realised what I was talking about. He made a disbelieving noise and made a dismissive hand gesture. "There is no such thing as the family curse Ileana. It's rubbish. It only exists here." He said, tapping my forehead. "It only has power because you let it. Forget it! We make our own luck Ileana. We make our own destinies." He explained wisely.

That made a lot of sense, but I frowned. "You don't believe in fate?" I asked curious. He thought on it, and then shook his head. "No. I don't. But I know you do. But even if fate is real Ileana, do you really think she'd be wasting her time on something as silly as an imagined curse?" he asked me with a chuckle. My lips twisted. "But… there are many times where fate has intervened, especially over the last year…" I began but Alexandru cut me off, placing a wrinkled finger on my lips to silence me.

"Fate only shows you a path Ileana. It's your choice, and your choice alone to take it." He said wisely. I nodded slowly. He chuckled again and wrapped one arm around my shoulders and we continued walking forwards. "I don't expect you to change you beliefs completely Draga. Just try and think on them a bit more. Think logically." He said as we made our way through the forest.

I remembered then, something I had read in Alina's journal. "What you are is what you have been, and what you will be is what you do now" I repeated, remembering the quote. Alexandru nodded with a smile. "Wise words. You should live by them Ileana. I've tried to." He said, a distant look on his face.

We walked out of the forest then, and the sudden change in scenery shocked me from a moment. I frowned. I didn't think we had walked as far as we had. We were standing at the entrance to Hogsmede and Alexandru and I were both quiet as we looked over the quiet town, townsfolk coming and going and not realising they had spectators.

"Was the village like this? Back in the day?" I asked curious, trying to reconcile the image in front of me to the one I pictured in my head of the village in the Carpathians. "No." Alexandru admitted, "It was quite different. We didn't have shops like these. We had a blacksmith and an Apothecary but that was it. Oh, there was a baker too. But other than that there were just houses. There was the keeper's property which sat at the back of the village on a hill. There are still skeletons of most of the buildings there so you can see were everything was. It was bigger than this though." Alexandru said eyes far away.

I nodded, an image coming to mind of what it could have looked like. Alexandru suddenly turned to me then, his face serious. "Promise me something Draga." He said, taking my hands and looking me directly in the eye. "Anything." I said instantly. "Promise me that if something were to happen to me, if I couldn't go back with you to the village after you graduate, that you would look after it for me. That you would rebuild it in my honour." He said, his expression earnest. I nodded wide-eyed. "Of course." I said.

He relaxed instantly, his expression smoothing out before he gave me a toothy grin and stroked the side of my face affectionately. "Bless you child." He said happily, pressing a kiss into my hair. I smiled, but then my eyes widened as I saw a flash of green spell light barrelling towards us. I didn't think; my body had moved before I had commanded it to. I pushed AV hard, knocking him out of the way as I fell with him. The green spell light shot over our heads and we landed with an 'oomph.'

My wand was instantly in my hand. I rolled off AV and got to my feet, casting a shield to block several more spells which came my way. My heart was pounding at a million miles an hour as I took in the sight before me. My stomach dropped and I cursed myself for being so stupid.

They'd found me and I knew that I probably wouldn't make it out of this one alive.

I just hoped I could protect AV for long enough for help to arrive, though what help I was hoping for I didn't exactly know.

One of the Death Eaters stalked forwards, his shiny silver skull mask gleaming in the sun. "I did warn you, you know." He said mockingly to me, and I could tell he was sneering behind his mask. I snarled. "Fuck you." I spat, and watched as the hand on his wand tightened.

"Prepare to die child." He crowed and threw the first spell.

A/N: Ollo! It's me!

Sorry about leaving you with the cliffie, but it's getting to the business end of our story.

I've actually finished all the writing involved with OOTS. I finished it the other day. I am really proud. Why? Because this is the only story- EVER- I have ever finished; the only story with a beginning, middle and end. Sure it's not the best story in the world, and sure the writing in the first half is slightly juvenile and riddled with spelling errors, plot holes and grammar mistakes.

I've made several cannon errors, but hey, it's fan fiction. Not a J.K masterpiece.

Hopefully though you've enjoyed it as much as I have.

I wrote this story for me. These characters have lived in my head and become incredibly dear to me over the last one and a half years. I was in tears when I wrote chapter 36, actually sobbing because the plot twist upset me that much. But it is VITAL to this story. It's something I've always planned.

I hope you can sit back and enjoy these last chapters with me as I post the rest of this story.

Would love to hear from you, please leave me a comment.