Playing with the devil

Amberrose returned a few days after her meeting with British Magic Minister, but she spent most of her time inside. She went to hear the daily reports in the morning, gave some words of advice, and then returned to her office. She hardly had time to open the gifts her colleagues and friends had brought her. She sent some thank-you letters to them, praising the nice things they'd bought or crafted.

Writing the letters and packing those gifts "just in case of another unexpected voyage" had been her only relaxation these days.

Among the gifts, there were lots of stuffed animals, pictures painted by some of her friends, funny T-Shirts, some enchanted charms she could wear attached to an armband, and lots of letters and books.

Ivy was by her side all the time. She met less and less with Alfie, as Amberrose had stopped giving them lectures, and she'd stopped looking carefree and happy. She stopped eating cakes or playing around as she'd used to. If someone were to ask her something about Amberrose, Ivy would say Amberrose was busy...very busy.

The party was great. Ivy had done a great job decorating and the house-elves had given their best with the food. Edgar brought his guitar and played some songs while the others accompanied him with their voices. Andreas played some tunes on Amberrose's piano "for the love birds''. He was by far as good as Ameberrose, but his skills had improved considerably over time.

If only Amberrose and Ivy had been there, too. They all missed the girls. Lately, it was hard to say if Amberrose would ever be able to accompany them when going out. Any plan she'd made had to be postponed due to urgent business.

Finally, the day of the attack came. The castle was cold and empty. The sun didn't start his journey over the top of the mountain and the Nurmengard castle was covered by darkness.

A figure was moving up the walls of the castle. It was crawling towards the top of the fortress. Slowly. Waving on the cold stone. It came closer and closer to its destination. It found the window from Amberrose's room opened and it entered.

It was a huge, green snake. Its eyes sparkled like two flames. It studied the area, making sure it hadn't been seen. The creature was both beautiful and dangerous. It was so much grace in the way it moved around and such strength in its muscled body. Finally, the snake crawled on the smooth floor, going further and further inside the room.

An hour later, it came out of the room. It crawled along the dark halls of the Nuremberg castle. Down the stone stairs. Down. Down. Until it reached the first store. No one had seen it…. It slid outside. The sun was already up and the snake had to hurry. It crawled further and further. Through the rocks. Down the base of the mountain. Until the castle was far enough. Then the snake started to change its form. Soon it was replaced by a very charming young lady. It was the same beauty who'd visited Eisee Rosier a few days ago. Her yellow eyes studied the surroundings. Then, Viper started to search for something in her small bag she had tied around her hand like a charm on a silver armband.

The Snake-Lady took out a small cage. A tiny black cat was sleeping peacefully inside. Viper put the cage back in her bag and took a small mirror out of the bag. She arranged her dark red cloak and while looking in the mirror she corrected her almost perfect make-up. She drew a fine dark fine line over the area where her lashes and her eyelid met, made her lips much redder than they already were, and let her brownish hair loose from a very tight ponytail. She smiled content. Things had gone according to plan. Just a bit longer and her plan would be completed. Though, it was little one could do to influence the outcome. She took a deep breath and disparated quietly.

Inside the castle, Ivy was running up the stairs as fast as she could. She was out of breath, but she had to find the others.

"I know where we can find the young Rosier." She cried as she entered the office. Brunhild and Andreas watched her surprised. It wasn't like Ivy to enter like that. She didn't enjoy running either. None said a thing. They just let her finish. "He intends to run out of the country. He had help. A snake. Big. Green. Piercing eyes. They found someone." She gave them a tiny note. An address was written on it. "Here" Brunhild took the note. "But the snake took Amberrose." The young elf continued….

An awkward silence followed.

"How do you know that?" Brunhild asked. Ivy internally cursed Brunhild's tendency to overanalyze everything.

"She's not in her room and I noticed the snake going out from the room. Her things are gone, too." Ivy explained. It would have sounded funny hadn't they been worried for Amberrose.

"What would a snake do with some stuffed toys and lots of pictures?" Allan asked. "And Amberrose can't be captured so easily. You all know that, don't you? I bet it's one of Amberrose's tricks. Maybe the snake is an ally or something."

"I don't think the snake knew what was inside the packages. I think she was looking for the dresses. She took all of them. I do also doubt the snake is actually a snake."

"Most certainly, it isn't what it seems," Brunhild answered. "Tell us everything you know."

"Even if it...well, she is an Animagus, it still doesn't explain how she could have captured Amberrose." Andreas added.

"She might have been asleep. She'd told me she needed to sleep a little. She must have turned into her cat-form. She usually does that. I don't know why. Maybe, she relaxes better that way. But...I wasn't there. I only supposed. Amberrose's had told me something about a snake-lady. She'd visited that Rosier boy. You don't think she'd ...eaten Amber, don't you? When I saw her leaving the room I hurried inside. I checked everywhere for Amberrose. She wouldn't have left without telling me. "

"And she wouldn't have allowed a dangerous snake to travel around the castle," Andreas added.

"Right. " Ivy cried.

"You're right. She would have never put anyone in danger if she could avoid it. Which means…" Allan was cut by Edgar before he had time to finish his idea.

"Amberrose is in danger. If she's not hurt or…" Edgar didn't continue.

The young Rosier didn't seem very happy to find himself face to face with a big snake. He'd grabbed his wand and was ready to strike when the snake turned back into the beautiful woman he'd been waiting for hours.

"Sorry." Viper's voice came as a relief after the fright the green snake had caused to him. Viper laughed as she noticed his reaction. "Not very fond of snakes, do you?" Eiseea nodded, but he soon gathered his courage and added.

"But you're the most charming snake I've ever seen."

"Now I see why so many girls will fall at your feet." She added playfully.

"Not you, though."

"We don't have much time. I've...well, things didn't come according to plan. But I have her." She spoke the last part with some sort of pride. She took a small cage out of her tiny bag. The cage got bigger as Viper put it next to her. A black cat was sleeping peacefully inside. "She's asleep now. I cast a spell on the cage so she can't turn back to her human form. The old Dementorin was way more vigilant than I'd expected. She saw me before I managed to bite her. I had to wait until she changed her form and only then did I manage to capture her." Viper ended her story.

"Are you going to kill her?"

"The Dark Lord may want her alive." Eiseea noded. "Let's go. We don't have much time." She hardly finished her idea when two Aurors appeared in front of them: a tall, blue-eyed young man and a short blue-haired woman. They were Andreas Seidel and Brunhild Fuchs. Soon, Allan and Edgar followed their colleagues. Viper and Eiseea were surrounded by four of the best fighters OZD had, one of them being the Head of Law Enforcement.

Yet Viper didn't seem intimidated by their presence. She put the cage back in her bag and quickly turned into her snake form.

"Hello, Snake Lady. We've never got the chance to meet." Andreas spoke confidently. The snake eyed the four Aurors in front of her, waiting for the right moment to attack and checking for a way to escape. "Do not worry. We'll get enough time for a chat at Nurmgard." As he finished his perfect speech, Andreas tried to hit her with a spell, but the snake attacked brusquely and he fell down under the weight of her muscular body before he got the time to utter the words. The other three Aurors tried to help him, but it was too late. The snake was too fast for them and she soon disappeared into the nearby lake where she regained her form and disapparate to the meeting place.

The young Rosier wasn't that lucky. He was caught and taken to the OZD headquarters.

"I hope you'll prove useful," Andreas muttered disappointed.