Ch

Ch. 9

You and I are the same

In the way that we have our own styles

That we won't change.

Yours is filled evil and mine's not,

There is no way I can lose.

-Open your heart, Supersonic's theme

"Very good, Sailorneptune!" Professor Flitwick squeaked. "You've gotten it. They key to the 'Lovely Feeling' charm, students, isn't to imagine your target feeling it, but to be thinking of something you love yourself while performing the charm. Can anyone tell me why that is? Yes, Ms. Mars?"

Mars smirked. "That's because love must be given freely before there is chance of having it returned, Professor."

"Quite right, Sailormars." He looked up as the bell sounded to end the class. "Oh my. Well, ten points to Hufflepuff for Neptune's performance of the charm, and ten to Slytherin for Mars' correct answer. You have your homework. Class dismissed."

As Mars walked away from the class with a still fuming Malfoy, she thought that the boy himself could do with a dose of the charm herself. He muttered to himself under his breath about the unfairness of the situation, of how Chibimoon should be his and not some snot-nosed little brat who wasn't even a wizard and younger than him to boot. Mars sighed, wondering if she should mention that Gohan was, in fact, a prominent member of The Earth's Special Forces and therefore was a key reason why Malfoy was still alive and breathing. On second thought, she thought against it. When Gohan was ready, he'd let him know.

Probably with a well placed 'Solar Flare', she mused to herself. She looked up at the ceiling of the Great Hall as she entered and frowned. The sky outside had turned a menacing grey. It didn't bode well for her Quidditch practise that evening. She'd managed to make chaser for the team, and was looking very forward to having it out with Usagi on the pitch. Theirs was the next game.

She sighed and set to work on her lunch. Steak and Kidney pie. She wrinkled her nose. What she wouldn't give for a nice helping of Sushi with lots of wasabi. Looking over at the Gryffindor table, she wasn't surprised to see Sailormoon's plate refilling itself already.

Pig, she thought to herself. One day her eyes are really going to turn out to be bigger than her stomach…that's a frightening prospect. She looked over towards the Ravenclaw table. Mercury reading something…again. Not so unusual. Over to the Hufflepuff table.

The three outers were talking. That wasn't unusual, either. They usually kept to themselves, even when with the inners. She sighed and glanced around her table. Greg and Victor were talking amongst themselves. Something about eating death. She didn't want to know. Draco, of course, was complaining about his favourite subject: Gohan. He seemed to have enlisted Zabini Blaise in his cause. The two were now trying to think up a fool-proof method of getting Gohan out of the way once and for all.

Mars sighed and put her fork down, letting her mind wander back to the youma. No attacks lately, but she was sure that wasn't the end of it. Youmas like that didn't just give up. They waited for a better opportunity. And all the Senshi could do in the mean time was wait. It wasn't their favourite thing to do, but what choice did they have?

She mentally checked over her schedule. She was free until later that afternoon, when she'd have to the divination thing. She groaned inwardly. Crystal balls and tea leaves? She'd begged Professor Trelawney to let her have a go in the fire, but the Professor had rather haughtily informed her that she was not up to the level of fire scrying yet. After what she'd heard about Pluto's episode with the dim witted teacher, Mars had declined comment, though Mercury was having a fit of the giggles at the time. Now she wondered if she could convince her housemates to let her use the fire in the commonroom. It was worth a shot.

She got up abruptly and began to walk off. Malfoy tagged after her.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"Back to the common room," she said, heading down into the dungeons. She stopped by the stone wall.

"Parseltongue" she said and a section of the wall slid back to reveal the commonroom. She quickly headed to her dormitory.

"Take off your shoes if you're going to be here," she called down over her shoulder. Draco did so, and was surprised to see Rei come back down the stairs, as a Shinto priestess and carrying all the necessary amenities she'd brought with her. Placing the prayer sticks nest to the roaring fire, she began to bless the fore. Draco sat off to one side and watched curiously.

She began to chant in Japanese, and after a few moments, her eyes flew open. She gazed into the fire intently. Draco, naturally, looked too. All he could see were the dancing flames, but Rei seemed to be able to see more, as her eyes widened and she gasped. She stood and looked to the fire for reconfirmation. It was given, and she ran back upstairs. Coming back down as Sailormars, dressed in Hogwarts robes, she rushed out of the commonroom, Draco not very far behind.

"What is it?" he panted. "What's wrong?"

"The youma," Mars panted. "it's about to attack again!"

She reached the Great Hall just as a shriek filled the hall. She pushed her way past the gathered spectators and over to where the commotion was-the Gryffindor table. Sailormoon was holding the newest victim, her normally red eyes filled with the blue light.

The youma had claimed Chibimoon.

"If only I'd thought of a fire reading sooner," Mars held her head and Sailormoon hugged her.

"It's not your fault," she told her yet again. "Don't worry. She's not getting away with this. We're not going to let her."

Draco was paler than usual. Chibimoon had been taken. He felt that he somehow had to do something. The Senshi, Harry, Ron and Hermione had begun discussing what was to be done. Harry, Ron and Hermione had evidently gone with them when they'd first encountered the-what was the word they had used? Youma? As they spoke, a resolution formed in Draco's mind that pushed out all other thoughts-even his hatred for Potter and Gohan. He squared his shoulders and looked straight into Sailormoon's eyes.

"I'm coming with you." He said.

The senshi were pleading with Dumbledore to let them go to Hogsmeade when there was a commotion outside his door and a horde of angry Samurai and one very, very angry Earth's Special Forces member burst in, followed closely by a bellowing Snape.

"I demand that you all leave immediately!" He bellowed, probably not for the first time. Gohan turned on Snape.

"I'm not going anywhere until I get back Usa-ko!" he said fiercely. Snape tried to stare the half-sayajin down. Gohan's tail twitched and Seiji grasped his shoulder gently, but firmly. He turned to Dumbledore.

"We need to go. And we need them," he said, motioning to the girls and students. Dumbledore sighed.

"I was afraid of that," he said softly. He sighed.

"You'll find the Astronomy tower ideal for your teleport," he said after a moment. "I wish you all the very best success on this venture."

Sailormoon smiled grimly. "We'll be back. You'll know we've defeated the Youma when the victims recover."

Dumbledore nodded and stood, motioning for Snape to move out of the doorway. After the determined group had departed, Snape frowned.

"Now what?" he snapped. Dumbledore looked at him sadly.

"Now we go to the hospital wing and wait. Classes, of course, are out of the question."

This time the four Hogwarts students were instructed to join hands in the centre of the teleport as the Senshi, Samurais and warrior did so. Seiji took a deep breath.

"Everyone ready?" he asked.

"Ready!" everyone chorused. Sailorvenus, as leader of the senshi, took the initiative.

"Sailor Teleport!" she yelled. Columns of light went up from the assembled rescuers, space warped and they were gone.

She awoke, feeling slightly detached. She looked around her and saw…Colin? Ginny? Kami-sama, no… It couldn't be…

The musical laughter filled her crystal, and she knew she was. She had been taken by the Youma.

Funny, she hadn't really know it was happening. One moment she was chatting away about what Professor Flitwick had been discussing in Charms, the next she'd sort of woken up and found herself here. The youma appeared before her.

"Such fine energy you have," she said softly. "If the rest of your companions are as suitable as you are, I may have no need for the little morsels."

Chibimoon gasped. "You can't!" she yelled. Her voice sounded little more than like a faint echo of her real one. The youma grinned.

"I can. And I most certainly will."

Venus landed the group of warriors and frowned.

"She's expecting us," she murmured. "'We haven't been attacked yet."

Rajura shuddered. Used to being the one doing the baiting, he wasn't sure he was comfortable with being the one baited. He had to remember to commend the Troopers on their fine jobs of defeating him in the face of this unnerving torture time after time. Mercury's hand was flying over the keyboard of her mini data computer.

"This way," she said, motioning more or less towards the centre of the plain, where the crystal tower stood. Hermione frowned.

"Wait," she said. "We need to keep as close together as we can. We don't want what happened last time to happen again."

Agreements were murmured, but the statement had made Draco uneasy. What had happened last time?

He frowned and kept relatively close to Sailormars, the only Senshi he truly knew. Mercury's visor showed something approaching them. She turned around and saw something glittering and coming towards them.

"Watch out!" she yelled. Everyone began to run, but the crystal, for that's what it was, was faster than that. It somehow managed to sweep them all up and it took off for the tower.

Phasing through the crystalline wall, the crystal deposited them on the floor before a clear throne. The iridescent blue light filled the vicinity of the throne and the youma appeared, smiling quite evilly.

"Welcome back," she said. Draco shivered at her voice. And he'd thought that the thought of Voldemort was scary. He'd never be afraid of Death Eaters after this.

"Are you ready to give in now? Just think of it," she said softly. "You could be part of something far greater than yourselves, and part of an eternal peace. Wouldn't that be wonderful?"

"I doubt it!" Jupiter shouted.

"We don't want to be a part of anything you have to offer!" Hermione added forcefully. The woman grinned and presented the crystal with Chibimoon.

"Usa-ko!"

"Chibimoon!" The two cries of desperation rang from Gohan and Draco. Chibimoon pounded weakly on her enclosure. Help me, she mouthed. Sailormoon gasped and turned to the youma.

"Let her go! I'm warning you," she said, taking out her Moon Kaleidoscope. Nikumu no Suishou laughed.

"You must be joking."

"Moon Gorgeous Meditation!" Sailormoon yelled, as other attacks such as

"Mars. Flame Sniper!"

"Mercury. Aqua Rhapsody!"

"Venus! Love and Beauty Shock!"

"Jupiter! Oak Evolution!"

"Morning Star Strike!"

"Flare Up Now!"

"Thunder Bolt Cut!"

"Arrow Shock Wave!"

"Super Wave Smasher!"

rang out as well.

The attacks hit her dead on and were just as quickly drained away. A collective gasp went up as Suishou's laugh rang out.

"Is that all?" she asked with amusement. Hermione drew herself up.

"Come on. Let's have a go. Finite Incatatem!" she yelled, Harry Ron and Draco following suit. The spell, this time, had no effect however. Instead, Hermione felt the power begin to drain out of her and she quickly stopped the spell.

"Space Sword-"

"Iie!" Touma yelled. "Uranus, don't! She'll drain you through your talisman!"

Uranus stopped mid attack, realising he was right. Suishou laughed evilly.

"Well, if that's all you have, then I suppose we'd better dispense with the formalities, hmm?"

With that, each person was encased in their own bubble. Suishou grinned.

"Which one shall I pick? Such a difficult decision…" she mused. Her eyes locked on Sailorneptune and she grinned, her eyes turning the pure iridescent blue. Sailorneptune shuddered and dropped to her knees, quickly seeming to lose all of her strength. Uranus banged on her own bubble, in a futile attempt to get at her companion. She remembered what had happened the last time someone had turned on Suishou as she was draining someone. Wait a second…perhaps… she took out her wand, hoping beyond all hope that this would work.

"Amorus!" she yelled, activating her wand and performing the Lovely Feeling charm on the youma. The youma laughed and Uranus felt herself begin to drain.

"All the better, to give yourself to me so willingly…"

Hermione gasped. She understood. So did Mercury, and the two of them both did their own favourite spells. Suishou laughed outright and greedily began to drain them.

"Yes," she whispered. "Give in…"

"What are you doing?" Touma yelled in Japanese.

"Maybe we can do to her what she did to Gohan. Let her know that her eyes are bigger than her stomach!" Mercury yelled back. Touma grinned. Devious and beautiful. No wonder he loved her. He activated his chi, and watched all the other Samurai do the same. Draco took a deep breath. He was scared. But Chibimoon's life was at stake.

"Stupefy!" he yelled, and felt himself begin to drain as well. Harry and Ron joined in, and suddenly Suishou's face began to contort.

"No," she murmured. "Stop it, some of you…please…"

"Keep going!" Sailormoon yelled, activating her Ginzuishou. It burned with a white light, casting a silver glow over everything. Chibimoon gasped, realising what was going on, and wished she could help. Now the blue light began to fill Suishou's body, her face was contorted with pain.

"No!" she yelled. "Stop!"

Sailormoon stood in her bubble, her face set.

All the steps we take, all the moves we make, all the pain at stake.

I see the Chaos for everyone, who are we, what can we do?

"You have been draining innocent people of their essence, taking them away from their family and friends. I will not forgive it!

"For love and justice, Pretty soldier in a Sailor Suit, Sailormoon! In the name of the moon," the Ginzuishou glowed brighter, making Suishou yell out in greater agony. "You're punished!"

You and I are the same in the way that we have our own styles that we won't change.

Yours is filled with evil and mine's not, there is no way I can lose.

Mars' smiled grimly. Time to deliver the final blow and restore the drained people, including Chibiusa.

"Mars Crystal Power!" She yelled. The other Senshi looked at her, then smiled.

"Jupiter Crystal Power!"

"Mercury Crystal Power!"

"Venus Crystal Power!"

"Uranus Crystal Power!"

"Neptune Crystal Power!"

"Pluto Crystal Power!"

Suishou, who had been screaming for them to stop, now seemed to be breaking up. But she still had enough mobility to look up in hatred at Sailormoon.

"I'll kill you!" she gasped.

Can't hold on much longer-But I will never let go.

I know it's a one way track-don't know how long this'll last.

"Guys!" Seiji yelled over the din. "We need to try to create Hariel!"

"Will it work from here??" Shin asked in disbelief. Seiji shook his head.

"We don't have any choice. It's either Hariel or watch Usagi get destroyed! She can't hold off that thing forever!"

Ryo grinned. He'd always preferred action.

"Ready!" he said, standing. The other Samurais stood also.

"He closed his eyes and called on Hariel of the inferno….but didn't feel the familiar sensation of powers merging into him. He sighed.

"It's no good. I can't get you guys with these-things around us!"

Seiji punched his bubble in frustration. It was all up to the Senshi and students now.

I'm not gonna think this way-nor will I count on others.

Close my eyes and feel it burn-now I see what I've gotta do.

Open your heart it's gonna be alright.

"Harry!" Draco yelled. "Use that thing you used on me a couple of years back!"

"Huh?" Harry said, confused.

"A Patronum!" Draco yelled desperately. "Use a Patronum!"

Harry's eyes widened. That just might do it. He drew himself up and focused on a very happy memory. Winning the Quidditch game with Sailormoon.

"Expecto Patronum!" He yelled, sending his silver stag out-but only as far as his bubble. It was enough, however, as Suishou stopped her assault on Sailormoon, clutched her sides and gave one last, horrible scream before shattering to pieces. The Bubbled promptly disappeared, and everyone landed, safe and sound. Chibimoon smiled as she disappeared. Gohan smiled, relieved, whereas Draco was frantic.

"Where did she go? Where did she go? Where-"

Hermione had grabbed Draco by the shoulders and shaken him, while Ron had muttered something about how he would have stomped on his foot. After shooting Ron a look, she turned back to Draco, smiling.

"That was only a shadow of Chibimoon. She's back where she belongs, in Hogwarts with the rest of the victims."

A low rumbling filled the air and fine fractures began to form in the floor. Rajura frowned.

"And we'd better get out of here before this place breaks up completely."

"Agreed," Venus said. "Okay. Everyone, time for a teleport!"

Everyone got into position.

"Sailor Teleport!" Venus yelled, and once again, and for the last time, they were gone.

The Senshi, Troopers, Students and warrior stormed into the hospital wing to see Madam Pomfrey feeding all the victims chocolate-except for Peeves, who was bouncing off of the walls. Dumbledore, Snape and McGonagall were all in the wing, and all smiled in relief as the group of rescuers entered the room.

"I take it is done?" Dumbledore asked. Sailormoon and Harry both nodded wordlessly. Chibimoon looked up and flung herself out of bed before anyone could stop her. She first hugged Gohan, who kissed her softly. She then, to everyone's immense surprise, hugged Draco, who's normally pale face flushed brilliant scarlet. She kissed him on the cheek.

"Thank you, Draco," she said softly. Then she went around saying hi to all of her other friends.

Collin rushed up to Harry, saying how glad he was to see him and the first chance he wanted, he wanted a picture, whereas Ginny had run up to Ron and was sobbing in his arms. Dumbledore smiled.

"I think some rewards are in order, hmm?" He glanced at the two heads of houses. McGonagall smiled.

"Fifty points to each house," she said proudly and everyone beamed. Snape frowned, seemed to be thinking something over. Finally he sighed.

"Another Fifty to each house," he added and Peeves actually fell out of the air in shock. Dumbledore grinned. "And I add another fifty for each person from each house involved. I think Madam Pomfrey would like her students to get some rest," he said, seeing the look on her face. He ushered the assembled group of rescuers and smiled.

"You all did a fine job. Now, though, I'm afraid it's time for our students to be off to bed."

Sailormoon proved his point by letting out a yawn, then she smiled.

"Konban wa, Sensei." She said in Japanese. Dumbledore smiled.

"Konban wa, Usagi-san," he said before walking off. Everyone else stared after him in shock. How had he known-

"It's too late to contemplate how Dumbledore knows anything he shouldn't," Draco told everybody. "Let's all go to bed and we'll head off the rumour mill in the morning."

This was agreed and everyone went to sleep, finally able to sleep a night as normal Hogwarts students.

To Be Continued…

A/N Don't flame me, please! This fic will be finished in another fic called "The Ultimate Decision". I've already started it, so don't worry. Nothing of import is going to happen that I won't show in the next fic. The Quidditch Cup, The House Cup, and then off for some serious thinking. What am I talking about? You'll see. Just wait for it…waaaaaiiiiiiiitt for it… I'll put up the first chapter in a couple of days! I promise!!

~*Hoshiko Usagi*~