Chapter 52

Cousins Again

James couldn't find another opportunity to talk to Blanche all week. At lunch and other meals she sat with her class and he sat with his and they had to read silently while at Book Club. Whenever he approached her in the corridor or during leisure time he saw Manon or her partner, who Noire had told him was called Marc, eyeing him suspiciously. By Friday he was sick of it and slowed his running pace in Physical Training so that he could speak to her.

"What's a guy got to do around here to catch you alone?" He grinned.

Blanche sighed, "People here are so paranoid. They get suspicious of anything out of the ordinary and of newcomers - rightfully so in your case."

James ginned again, "Those Wand Bearers are just as bad as the teachers." He muttered.

"It's hard to reach that level. They're almost considered equal at that point. They're treated like it at least." Blanche replied, gasping for air as they ran.

"So how does someone reach that level?" James asked curiously.

Blanche shook her head. She was too out of breath to keep whispering. James noticed Marc watching him with narrowed eyes. He put some distance between himself and Blanche but stayed level, watching her. When Marc had lifted his gaze, James returned to her side.

They kept running in silence for a moment than she slipped him a piece of card,

"I saw you didn't have a book marker in Book Club." She said quietly.

"Oh!" James took it and saw the tiny numbers scratched all over it, "Thanks."


"So I guess we really are cousins, huh?" Rose said to Albus as they sat together after dinner one night.

They usually sat together, chatting about this and that or making jokes about the teachers. It finally felt like they knew each other again and every now and again Albus was able to forget where they were and why. Despite this, Rose had never brought up the 'cousin' topic again, until now.

"Yeah..." Albus replied.

They were in the school hall sitting apart from the clubs with their backs against the grey stone wall.

"And we're the same age?" Rose asked curiously.

"Well you're thirteen now and I'm still only twelve." He informed her, "But we're in the same year at Hogwarts and everything."

Rose thought about this for a moment.

"What's Hogwarts like?" She enquired, "I mean, I know it's a big stone castle in Scotland but what's it like to go there?"

"It's great." Albus admitted, "The classes are nothing like the ones here; we do Charms and Potions and Herbology and Defence Against the Dark Arts!" He enthused, "Everyone's got their own wands and is allowed to do magic."

Rose watched him speaking, he could hear himself lighting up with enthusiasm and wondered if he should tone it down. After all, they were stuck here. No point in rubbing it in.

"But there's still like, detention and mean teachers and things." He added hurriedly.

"What's your favourite subject?" Rose asked excitedly, ignoring Albus's attempts to talk the school down.

"Probably Herbology." Albus replied thoughtfully, "It's taught by Professor Longbottom. He's a family friend." He added quickly.

Rose considered this. Albus could see her trying to build up a picture of the school in her mind.

"What's mine?" She asked next, a smile spreading across her inquisitive face.

"I'm not sure," Admitted Albus, "You're really good at everything."

Rose laughed, "It sounds really fun."

"It is." Smiled Albus despite suddenly feeling melancholy.

For a few minutes neither of them spoke.

"Do you know why we're not allowed to perform magic here?" Rose asked darkly.

Albus shrugged, "Because we'd run away?"

"It's not just that." Rose murmured, "Not everyone here can do magic."

"They take Muggles too." Albus breathed remembering Gabriel's friends. They could be in this very room and he wouldn't know.

"That's what Noire said and she's been here long enough to know." Rose muttered, "She knows everything about this place."

"Does she know where we are?" Albus asked, still clueless as to where this window-less school could be hidden.

"Ask her." Rose smiled.

Albus looked over to where Noire was playing cards with James at a table. James was loosing badly. Even from this distance Albus could see he wasn't paying full attention, he kept glancing over his shoulder to where Blanche was curled up in a corner sketching.

"Is Blanche always this quiet?" He asked Rose with a frown. She always seemed moody to Albus but he didn't think she was trying to be unfriendly, she just seemed shy.

Rose looked across the room at her too and sighed, "Pretty much." She affirmed, "But she's more miserable than ever since Gris was taken away, according to Noire."

"Gris? He was in charge of the Resistance before, right?" Albus probed, "Not Noire?"

Rose smiled, "Hard to imagine, isn't it?"

It was.

"The way Noire talks about him, he must have had some very inspiring leadership skills." Rose recalled, "She's said she wouldn't have lasted this long without him, but I'm not sure I believe that." She smiled again.

Albus agreed.

"Blanche is all alone in Élevé," Rose continued, "If she spends time with any of us, the teachers will punish her and she could lose their trust but we need at least one member who isn't shunted aside like the rest of us in Faible. It's critical that she stays there."

Albus nodded, seeing what she meant.

"She's so quiet and passive that nobody suspects her," Rose added, "Not like Noire - she's our all-out spokesperson, so to speak, without her no students would know there was a Résistance. Unfortunately, that means that all the teachers know who she is too." She grimaced.

"And you?" Albus coaxed.

"I don't know yet..." Rose said thoughtfully, "But I think I'd rather keep my head down. Last thing we need is another Gris. I'm just surprised they haven't done anything about Noire."

Albus shuddered at the thought of losing Noire. He'd lost enough people for one year, thank you very much.

"Oh!" Rose exclaimed as a bell signalled for the students to return to their dorms, "I almost forgot to give you this."

She held up a book from pile she'd been reading from when Albus had found her there.

"I thought you could do with the extra help." Rose smiled.

"Um, thanks..." He muttered reading the title as she waved and hurried away.

'French for Dummies' It read.

He knew his French was pretty pathetic but he still felt mildly offended. Until James came along and tugged him to his feet.

"Great! You got the map, I got the key." He smirked with a raised eyebrow and held up bookmark covered in scrawls.

Suddenly Albus's head cleared and everything made a lot more sense.


Like the first note, the second was about a meeting; 'same time same place' it read. So they crept back to the elf-sized kitchen that night to meet Noire, Rose and Blanche once more.

"What's up?" James asked as he sat down on a crate next to Blanche.

Noire raised an eyebrow at his casual tone.

"I've been talking to Rouge – Rose - whatever." Noire began, "She's convinced that it must be a Colloportus charm that's on the doors and that's why we couldn't get through last time. That means…" She looked at Rose, a little unsure.

"That means that we need a wand to get through them." Rose interjected.

"One problem," Interrupted James bluntly, "None of us have a wand."

Rose rolled her eyes. Albus smiled at the familiarity of it.

"No, but I know someone who does." Noire said with a raised eyebrow.

Albus looked from one student to another. Blanche was staring studiously and Rose looked sombre.

"Manon?" James asked with bewilderment.

Noire shook her head, "I wouldn't risk my life going after her." She grimaced, "But the other Wand Bearers do and I know where one of them keeps his."

"On him at all times?" James asked sarcastically.

Noire ignored him. Albus felt uneasy.

"Tomorrow night Manon and Marc will be on patrol," Noire informed them seriously, "That means that the other Wand Bearers, Hunter and Armel, will be sleeping." Noire smiled.

Albus wondered if Hunter was the Wand Bearer's first or last name, until he remembered what Noire had said about Wand Bearers getting to pick their own names.

"Probably neither in that case…" He thought.

"Hunter," Noire continued, "Will stow his wand in the locker beside his bed and lock it."

Albus had never thought about it before but it seemed obvious now that the Wand Bearers couldn't have their wands on them every moment of every day. This weakness could be an advantage to the Résistance if they made use of it. It could be a terrible risk though and the thought of trying to steal a wand from a guy named 'Hunter' made Albus nauseous.

"However he keeps the key under his pillow making it impossible to steal it without waking him up." Noire continued.

"Great." Muttered James, "So what's the plan?"

"Here's where you guys come in," Noire told them and Albus felt his stomach drop, "Blanche, can you remember how to pick locks?"

Blanche nodded, "Gris taught me."

"You're gonna need someone else with you for backup." Noire frowned.

"I'll do it." James said immediately.

Albus looked at him. He looked determined,

"I don't know how to pick locks but I can get Blanche in and out of the boys dorms and keep an eye on Hunter and Armel the whole time."

"Great." Noire enthused, "But we're going to need at least one person in the corridor to keep watch in case Manon and Marc return."

Albus thought about this. The idea made him sick with nerves and yet he knew he had to volunteer,

"I'll keep watch." He murmured.

"Or I could do it?" Cut in Rose.

"No." Albus said quickly, "If Noire got caught they could punish her really badly and if anything goes wrong we're going to need you, Rose, for the next step of the plan but if I get caught I'll just tell them I've been sleepwalking since I got here... Can't be the first time someone's acted strangely after moving to a new location right?"

Noire nodded.

"But-" Rose protested.

"No, he's right." Noire cut in, "You seem to know the most about this Colloportus Charm than the rest of us and they'er less likely to be suspicious of Comet, they probably already think you've been hanging around with me too much."

Rose looked sullen but Noire's word was final.

"So this is it?" James whispered to Albus as they left the meeting that night, "Our first mission for the Résistance, huh?"

"Uh-huh..." Albus replied.

"You sure you're okay with this?" James asked sounding genuinely concerned.

Albus nodded keeping his uneasy face turned down,

"One more step to getting out of here and bringing Rose home, right?"

"Right." Agreed James as they turned into the dorm and snuck quietly back to bed.


The next few days passed without another word about the new plan. Lagunov was in a bad mood and kept making them copy out page after page of notes on the International Confederation of Wizards from some theorists book who claimed that the suppression of magic was against nature. It was incredibly boring work and in Albus's mind, the author was clearly paranoid. He could have been convinced by some of the arguments if there was a solution suggested but without a way of fixing the problems the whole book was pointless whining. When he asked Noire about it at lunchtime, she agreed.

"Anyone can complain about magic being suppressed." Noire had said, "But unless you have a better idea, I don't really care."

Albus agreed.

Some of the material which they read was vaguely interesting however. There were case files on crimes that had been committed that broke the Statute of Secrecy, details on the trial and punishment, between arguments on whether or not the crimes were justifiable. Some were cases of pure Muggle Hating, many were harmless jokes that got out of hand and caught a Muggle's attention, the kind of thing Rangi or Fred could do for fun. One case really caught Albus's eye because it was about a kid his age who had been locked up in St. Mungo's by the British Ministry of Magic because his magic had been so strong and he had been too physically weak to contain it.

"Is that case all true?" Albus asked Noire after class.

"How should I know?" She shrugged.

But Albus was curious and that night he checked out a book on Ministry misdemeanors for similar cases. The example case was dated as happening in eighteen seventy-three but there were many similar cases from before than and some in later years. Albus was about to start reading a chapter about wizards and witches who were detained by hospitals due to lycanthropy but before he had finished the first page he felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Marc, the Wand Bearer, standing behind him.

"May I take a look at that book if you're done?" Asked the boy cooly.

Albus was not done but he was in no mood to pick a fight with a Wand Bearer so he handed the book over without a word.

"You okay?" Came a kindly voice from behind him as Marc walked away.

Albus saw Rose standing there with a gentle smile.

"Yeah… I'm fine." He replied.

"Come over and sit with me." She suggested.

Abus agreed and took the seat next to her. It was only the two of them, they were seated at one of the tables usually used for eating meals.

There was a long pause. Albus could feel his cousin's eyes on him but he was preoccupied thinking about Marc, the Wand Bearer, and how he had taken his book.

"Will you tell me more about Hogwarts?" Rose asked in a lowered voice.

Albus looked at her in surprise, he didn't think she would want to talk about the past.

"Okay." He nodded.

"What are the teachers like?" She asked eagerly.

"The good ones or the bad?" Albus grinned.

"Tell me about all of them."